The Lesson
by Kanarah J
Summary: Sora has experienced many things during his travels across the worlds; however, learning to kiss was not at the forefront of the list. A reluctant Riku offers to help, but at what cost to their friendship? SK, SR.
1. The Catastrophe

Hello! After a long vacation (that I hadn't really anticipated returning from, to be honest) I somehow managed to convince myself that posting this wouldn't be a horrible, horrible idea. I'm not sure how right I am about this, but one never knows. ^^

While I'm here, I submit a shameless plug: If you're interested, I also have a new link to my homepage up on my profile. It's actually a link to my Etsy account, in which I sell custom made plush dolls. I can accommodate most requests, so if you're interested, send me a message either there, or through a PM. This girl has got to pay for graduate school somehow!

Notes about some minor details: This takes place a few years post KHII.

Riku is between 20 and 21, and Sora is between 19 and 20.

Warnings: Contains slash kinda-sorta, but less so as the story goes on. If Riku and Sora kissing bothers you, I don't anticipate you liking this fic very much. :P

* * *

><p>Sora angrily rocked back and forth on his heels.<p>

The boards of Riku's creaky porch hissed and moaned underneath his feet, and he found himself furious at him for several reasons. How many times had he suggested that he and Riku find a few spare days during the summer to pull up the old boards and put a down some newer ones, perhaps of a different shade of varnish? He didn't live with his parents, so asking for permission wasn't even an excuse that Riku had the luxury of offering at this point. The fact was that Riku was just _lazy_, and he didn't care about simple, aesthetically pleasing modifications, or even the frustration of his _best_ friend as the creaks and squeaks beat steadily at his eardrums.

Then of course it was a somewhat hot day when all of this had to transpire, too. Of all the days in the years since the two of them had come back, Riku just _had_ to suggest today? The island wasn't subject to particularly harsh winters, it being _tropical_ and all, but the weather did maintain a tolerable temperature during the winter, even if it was only a few degrees cooler than it was in the summer. At the very least he wouldn't be standing outside on Riku's porch—the porch with the creaky boards—staring daggers at the door, and sweating like a pig on a rotating spit. He supposed part of the _date_ was largely the fault of Kairi, but he wasn't currently waiting for her to come and answer the door. I fact, he was hoping for quite the opposite...

He fought the urge to beat against the door again. Riku could have had the courtesy to be on _time,_but he supposed that the idea simply must have been _too__much_ to ask of the mighty Riku. It wasn't as if he was asking him to meet him at the shore, or even the secret cave that the two of them visited occasionally to check as a precautionary measure. Sora thought that being on time to his own front door would be a relatively simple task, but perhaps he had overestimated Riku's regard for other people's time.

He decided that he _would_ beat the door again. If Riku hadn't heard him the first twenty one times, then he was sure going to hear him the twenty _second_.

The door was still, and Sora was about to rip the hinges clean off of the structure, stomp right up to Riku's room and pull on his mop of overgrown silver hair until he knew just how little Sora felt like playing games.

That was another thing about Riku that Sora was angry about. Sure, Riku didn't spend more than a few moments grooming himself for the day, as personal maintenance had been somewhat immaterial to both of them during their conquests, and had yet to regain it's previous rank on the scale of importance, but he could have at least put some consideration into the length of his hair. Since the two of them had returned from saving the worlds nearly five years ago, he could have at least attempted to cut it to a more manageable length. Before, Sora had to all but drag him to get the ends chopped, and a few times the length had to be remedied at home by Sora's force of will, a chair placed in the center of Riku's kitchen, a pair of kitchen scissors ,and a towel draped around the shoulders of his unwilling subject.

And then there was the fact that Riku had a house in the first place...

Sora rammed his fist against the hard wood of the door again, this time eliciting a sharp sound from the tortured wood. If Riku didn't hurry up and get his sorry self down the stairs and to the front door within a matter of minutes, he wasn't going to have a door anymore.

Sora glanced over his shoulder, and his blood started to run cold. All the time he had spent mentally scolding Riku for all of his faults, he had completely forgotten why he was in such a hurry in the first place.

Kairi didn't appear to be anywhere near Riku's house, but one could never be too sure about that girl. She was stealthy and cat-like. She may not have been especially skilled with the keyblade, but her movements were often undetected, and she was an inherent master of emotional warfare, whether she wanted to be or not. It was one of the offensive mechanisms that came with being a woman, Sora decided.

The important thing was that she was nowhere to be found. If she saw him furiously pounding on the door of Riku's house, he would more than likely be questioned, and the explanation would just be catastrophic. Kairi _could_ not know what he was doing.

He rubbed his arms at the thought and decided to focus on something slightly more positive, like beating a mental image of Riku about the face and neck with his fists.

He and Kairi had been a couple for nearly four months. It wasn't a significantly long amount of time, but the time that their feelings had been officially declared had been special to both of them. The two of them had spent a number of years admiring each other from afar, as all three of them needed a while to recuperate from the stressful and emotionally draining events with the King, Donald and Goofy. They had mutually agreed that a relationship of any serious nature was not a good idea given their emotional vulnerabilities. Making a commitment too soon would have been disastrous for all parties involved. They had decided to wait a few years until all of them had settled their emotions satisfactorily before pursuing any romantic relations.

Then, about four months ago, Sora had worked up the courage to ask her out, and the rest was history. He and Kairi had been quite happy together, and the relationship was going very well. Sora wasn't quite sure what Riku thought about the whole thing, as his friend had been somewhat hard to read since they had returned, but he had hoped that the apathy that his friend had showed, and at times the complete and total dismissal of the issue altogether were just Riku's ways of accepting it...maybe?

There was a problem though, and it had reared its ugly, lip-shaped head nearly a month ago. Sora had just swept the matter underneath the rug, hoping it would just disappear altogether. It worked for a little while, but eventually, it rose up again, occupying his thoughts as he watched the ocean lap against the shore in the morning, chasing him around his dreams at night, and smacking him across the face every time he looked at Kairi's smiling face.

Sora had never actually kissed her.

To be more specific, Sora had never actually kissed _anyone_ before.

The thought made his cheeks redden, and he channeled his embarrassment into another furious knock on Riku's door.

It wasn't that Kairi was nagging him about the issue, after all she seemed perfectly content with just spending time with him on the small island, or walking with her fingers laced with his as they strolled about the beach. Kairi wasn't a complaintive person anyway, and he doubted she would ever voice the issue. But he could see it in her eyes when he stood on her porch at the end of the day. He could see the slight twitch in her lips, the glimmer of longing in her eyes as she smiled at him, and he could feel it in her muscles as she gave his hand a loving squeeze.

What respecting couple didn't kiss after a four month relationship? The two of them had hugged several times, and they held hands nearly every time they came into contact with each other. But those were practices that had taken place during their friendship. He was even prone to hug Riku every now and then. The two of them needed a special gesture to mark their new relationship; something for the two of them to share, something that that was an exclusive mark of the Sora and Kairi couple.

But who could blame him? Sora thought, trying to justify himself. Before he had been whisked away to fight heartless and defend the worlds from being swallowed up by the darkness, he had spent his time being _friends_ with girls, not pursuing them romantically. In fact, he had just been starting to think that relationships of that nature _weren__'__t_ disgusting (sexual education had left a pretty sizable scar). He hardly had the time to consider the issue as he was trying to rescue his friends, and he certainly didn't waste his time thinking about things as trivial as kissing when Xemnas and the Organization were destroying everything that he knew and loved. Now that he was back, he had only recently considered romantic affection, and he had yet to uncover the secret art of kissing. It was slightly embarrassing that he was _this_ old and still hadn't put his lips anywhere near another set, but he supposed if people brought the issue up, he would just have to violently remind them that he saved their lives without giving a second thought to his own safety...

He pulled his wrist back for another fierce knock before he finally heard the winding of mechanisms in the doorknob. The door opened slowly, and a droopy-eyed Riku appeared through the crack in the door. "Sora?" His voice was deep and raspy.

"Yes it's _Sora,_" he hissed, checking over his shoulder absently for any sign of Kairi. "You had better have a good explanation for keeping me out on your doorstep for _this_ long!" He was practically shouting, but he had to remember to keep his voice down. Kairi did live just a few houses away.

Riku quirked an eyebrow, then rubbed his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Outrage took over his features. It was _Riku__'__s_ suggestion that the two of them meet that day. How he could have just forgotten was beyond Sora, and furthermore it was completely inexcusable. "You _told_ me to come over here! What were you doing?"

Riku blinked again, moving away from the doorway to grant Sora access into his house. "I was asleep."

"How could you be asleep? I have something important to talk to you about!"

Riku steadily rubbed his eyes with his hands. "Probably because it's seven in the morning."

"...You didn't give a specific time."

Riku regarded him with a yawn and then sat down heavily on his couch.

Sora slammed the door closed behind him. He then followed up the gesture with the furious tapping of his left shoe. "Are you ready, or does Princess Riku need a few more minutes to get it together?"

Riku responded with another yawn, and then stretched. "No, no. I'm good." He ran a hand up his forehead to brush his long bangs out of his eyes, and then let them fall back in place; the tips brushing the bridge of his nose.

Sora was disgusted. Maybe he was over rather early, but Riku hadn't bothered to give any preferences about the time that he came over. He had simply approached him the evening before with a request to speak with him about an issue, and Riku had suggested that he come over the following day. Sora may have conveniently left out the urgency of it, after all, he needed all the time he could get to prepare himself for the emotional berating he was more than likely going to receive from his older friend, but Riku knew that he was coming over none the less. He could have at least granted him the courtesy of being properly dressed before answering the distressed call of his positively frantic friend.

Sora wrinkled his nose. Riku hadn't even bothered to comb his too-long mop of hair. It hung in a tangled mess over his shoulders, and a particularly ridiculous looking lock hung awkwardly over his left eye. He hadn't even bothered to make his attire presentable either. He was still clad in his pale blue pajama pants and white T-shirt. Sora supposed that he should have been grateful, after all his own choice in sleep wear was a pair of boxer shorts and a blanket, and seeing Riku answer the door in something similar would have bee downright inexcusable, but the lack in preparation for his visit was still grating heavily on Sora's nerves.

He rolled his eyes and surveyed the mess that was Riku again. He let out a sigh. "You should go take a shower or something."

"Really? You're going to let me?"

"I know. You should feel grateful."

"I assure you, I do." He grumbled a little as he pulled himself off of the couch and ran a hand through his hair again. "I'll be down in fifteen minutes. Try not to destroy anything while I'm gone."

"I'm not going to destroy anything."

Riku didn't even turn around as he mounted the stairs. "Tell that to my front door."

Sora didn't bother to respond. Instead he just scowled as he watched him ascend the staircase.

As he waited, he decided to sit on the couch. He sank into it and let out a sigh. It had only been a few minutes, but he was already feeling stressed out. He doubted Riku would make too much fun of him, but he still dreaded telling him that he had never kissed a girl, furthermore that he was _worried_about it. But Riku had gotten a lot more passive since his return, and now it was almost impossible to surprise him with anything. Part of him was grateful, but another part had wondered just what horrid things he had been exposed to in the darkness to change his personality so much. He supposed that both of them had changed though, and he found it best not to focus on the causes of which for the time being. Both of them had decided quite a long time ago to keep the more...unsavory aspects of their travels out of their minds.

Sora sighed again, and glanced down at the pillow cushions, immediately beginning to chuckle. Despite how angry he was about Riku not opening the door, the space between them reminded him of how long the two of them had spent picking the sand crabs out of the couch cushions, and other crevices in Riku's house. Since Sora actually lived with his parents, they had stayed around to take care of the place in his absence, but since Riku's parents had vacated the island some time before their adventures had even started—Sora was partial to think that _this_ was one of the reasons Riku was so restless—the house had gotten overrun with the little creatures. It had taken almost two days to clear the area from crabs, bugs, dust, and sand that had blown in. It was a little depressing, but spending the time together had been something that the both of them not only enjoyed, but needed. They hadn't seen each other in so long, and over the past four years, their relationship seemed to have gotten stronger than it ever had.

It was awkward at first, but doing simple things like cleaning out Riku's house, replacing the shingles on the roof, or just walking along the beach together had made their reunion easier, and ultimately _better._ It was one of the reasons he was at Riku's house and not Tidus or Wakka's. If he could trust anyone to find a solution to this problem, Riku was it.

Moments later, the person in question walked down the stairs rubbing his head with a towel. "Okay," he said with a sigh. "What's the big emergency?"

"You sure took your sweet time!"

"I wanted to smell good." He grinned. "What is it?"

Sora kept silent as he watched Riku head into the kitchen, his once prominent limp now barely visible. He wanted to word it properly to avoid as much humiliation as possible. "Uh, well, a situation has kind of come up."

"What kind of a situation?"

"Um," he followed Riku and sat at one of the chairs at the counter. It wasn't that he thought saying it would be easy, but it had gotten considerably more difficult after he had started talking. "Well, it's kind of about...Kairi and me."

Riku grumbled a bit before rummaging around in the pantry. "What, are you breaking up?"

"Potentially...if we don't resolve this, that is."

He stopped hunting, and leaned over on the counter, tipping his head to the side. "Well, this sounds serious. You might want to tell me what it is."

"It's not that easy."

"It isn't?"

"No! Of course it isn't. It involves careful wording, the utmost care and consideration...if necessary, beating around the bush."

"...Or you could just tell me."

"There's that, but being frank just seems so...so..."

"Easy?"

"Belittling!"

He rolled his eyes. "I refuse to believe you came over here at seven in the morning, waking me up, mind you, to discuss the value of _how_ you're going to talk to me about whatever it is you wanted to talk to me about."

Sora looked up at him sheepishly. "To be fair, you never gave an exact—"

"Let's move past that, okay?"

Sora fidgeted a little more and set his gaze on his lap. His knees were somehow far less intimidating than Riku's eyes, and keeping his mouth shut was far more comfortable than speaking about the issue any further.

He _did_ come over there for a reason, though, and sitting there avoiding it wasn't going to do anyone any good; not Kairi, not himself, and not Riku. Slowly, he looked upward. "Um...fine."

"Okay, shoot."

"Riku...when was the first time you kissed a girl?"

He blinked in surprise. _That_ was certainly something he hadn't thought about in a long time. "Uh...I dunno." He looked towards the ceiling. "Probably... sixth grade. Why?"

"Did you like it?"

He shrugged and leaned against the counter. "It wasn't anything worth remembering, if that's what you mean. I liked her, she liked me; I kissed her on my way home from school. We forgot about each other a week later."

"Oh. Have you kissed anyone after that?"

"Yeah. Why is this important?"

"...So...you're pretty experienced?"

Riku arched an eyebrow. "Uh, not by some standards, but, you know... anyway, you still haven't answered my question."

Sora let out a heavy sigh and folded his hands. He could already feel his face and the tips of his ears burning. "Riku, I've never kissed anyone before!"

He stood silent for a moment as he took in Sora's expression. Then he shrugged. "It's not really that big of a deal."

"Of course it's a big deal! How am I supposed to kiss Kairi if I don't know how to?"

Riku bristled a little, but tried his best to suppress it. Sora on the other hand was feeling even more embarrassed than he had when he had first brought the subject up. He had hoped that Riku would be able to help him out somehow, but he still felt uncomfortable knowing that he _knew_ the specifics, after all, relationships were supposed to be somewhat intimate...

Awkward didn't even begin to cover what he was feeling as he tried to look up.

Riku was the first to say something. "You...you want to kiss Kairi?"

Sora thought caught the faintest hint of a choking sound from Riku's throat, but he dismissed it as a figment of his imagination. More taxing things were occupying his mind anyway, like how he really didn't want to discuss this. "Yeah," he said, trying to sound calmer. "Isn't that what _normal_people do?"

"Well, you're right. I just meant...never mind." He looked at Sora again with a neutral face. "Did she ask you to?"

"Uh, not directly, no. But don't you think it's just something we should be doing? It _has_ been four months."

Sora thought he saw a cringe this time, but it was gone in a flash. Riku sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You're right. Okay, what do you want me to do?"

"Well, I just kind of hoped you could...give me some pointers, you know, _instruct_ me or something."

"There really isn't that much to it. Just aim and press."

"There has to be more to it than that."

"No, there really isn't."

Sora felt somewhat defeated. He had _not_ just done all of that fretting over something that wasn't a big deal. At the very least Riku could have lied, if only to make him feel like his worries hadn't been pointless.

Riku had to have been wrong. If kissing wasn't such an important thing, then every teenager running around Destiny Islands wouldn't have gotten the lecture from their parents. Sora remembered paying very little attention to his own lecture—he might have been watching television at the time. He remembered middle school when kissing was the most important activity a person could participate in. It marked the end of social awkwardness, and the beginning of adulthood! He hadn't been interested in girls himself back then, but he remembered the fuss Tidus and Wakka made over the whole thing. Riku had seemed somewhat apathetic about the whole thing, too way back then, yet he clearly had his fair share of lip-locking if the answers to his questions had been any indication.

The whole _saving_ _the__Worlds_ adventure had pretty much denied him of any time to appreciate it for what it was, and he was just now trying to figure out what he was supposed to do and how he was supposed to feel about it. Was Riku implying that he had _missed_ the point in life where kissing _was_ important? He thought things like that were supposed to be timeless!

He spared a glance in Riku's direction, and it appeared as if he was having some sort of internal battle with himself while staring blankly at a wall across the room. He decided to try again. "Fine, then if it's so easy, explain it to me."

Riku chewed his lip, appearing as if he hadn't heard him at all. He blinked, though, and turned around. "What? Oh, right. I thought I already did."

"'Aim and press' are the same instructions you use for firing a torpedo. I'd like some more details, please."

Riku fidgeted a little. "Uh, okay. You just kind of lean in, and push your lips to whoever else's...and kind of...do it."

"How do you keep from bumping noses?"

"Turn your head."

"Which direction?"

"Whichever one is comfortable."

"How do you know what's comfortable?"

"You just kind of...figure it out."

"Riku!" Sora cried, nearly coming out of his chair. "It would be a little awkward switching positions over and over again in the middle of the kiss! What if I can't decide? What if I get a cramp in my neck? Wouldn't that ruin the experience forever, and—"

"Sora, relax." Riku smiled, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You're just kissing Kairi. It's not like you're trying to climb a mountain. If you just calm down, everything will be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"...It's my obligation as your friend to tell you that, yes."

"Riku!" He swatted him on the shoulder, to which Riku responded to with a chuckle.

"I was just kidding. Yes, you'll be fine."

Sora was still unconvinced. "How can you say that? You still haven't adequately explained it to me!"

Riku sighed, playing with the end of the towel draped around his shoulders. "Well, I can't really give you better explanation..." Then something clicked in his mind, and it was visible on his face. "Unless..."

Sora looked up at him hopefully, and even clasped his hands together for effect. "Unless what?"

Riku looked uncomfortable for a collection of seconds. Sora realized he was having another internal battle, and he was tempted to tell him to put it on the backburner until later. If he had _any_ advice whatsoever, he had better spit it out, and quickly. He didn't have _time_ for Riku to feel indecisive. "Out with it!"

"Well," Riku shook his head, making his shorter locks of hair brush against his shoulders. "It's probably not a good idea, but it _would_ help you out..."

"Well what's the problem then? Let's hear it!"

Riku looked uncertain again, and let out another sigh as he looked Sora awkwardly in the eye. "You could..."

"I could..."

"You could...practice on me."


	2. Undone

Hi all. Welcome back for Chapter 2. I just wanted to say thank you to the reviewers, and even the silent viewers who bothered to at least read the summary. I feel so much better about coming back. :) Thank you!

Alright, here it is. On with Chapter 2.

* * *

><p>Sora's eyes widened at the suggestion, and immediately Riku wished he hadn't let it come out of his mouth.<p>

"Practice on you?"

"Just to make you feel comfortable about it...for the real thing. You don't have to if you don't want to."

Riku wondered how much more awkward the situation would have been if he punched himself in the face right then. There were dozens of alternatives he could have suggested. There were all kinds of books at the library, there were pillows, and he could have suggested he use the back of his own hand. He heard somewhere that Tidus learned to kiss by practicing on a cheeseburger, and even though Riku wasn't certain how _that_ could have even been even remotely successful, it would have been a significantly less outrageous recommendation. If all else failed, he could have even suggested that Sora talk to Kairi about it, after all it was _their_ relationship.

Riku himself had just kind of _done__it_, and the girls he had kissed in the past had hardly been what Riku would call serious kissers. A couple of pecks here and there, a few deeper kisses he hardly remembered and an awkward experience in a high school gym pretty much summed up his kissing resume. He didn't remember being _taught_ per se, but anything he could have made up would have been an adequate replacement for what came out of his mouth.

And the fact that this could potentially (hopefully, and preferably) turn into something apart from objective on his part was tickling the back of his mind...

No, that was no good. Those certainly weren't traits a good friend should display. To save himself the guilt, he insisted to himself that he had only made the suggestion out of Sora's best interest, nothing more, nothing less.

Still though, he was still having trouble keeping the fists his hands were balled into from connecting with the sensitive flesh of his face. Sora wasn't saying anything, and if his wide eyes and the 'O' his lips had formed in were any indication of what he was thinking then—

"Well, I guess that makes sense," Sora said slowly, nodding as the thought sunk in. "It could work."

Riku went slack-jawed. "What?"

"Yeah!" Sora started, feeling a bit more optimistic. "I mean, practicing on Kairi would completely defeat the purpose, finding another girl to go around kissing would be a bad idea to put it mildly, and you're not going to make fun of me...right?"

"Of course not."

"And," he added, to complete his string of logic. "You already know about it. If I find someone else, it'll just increase the number of people who think I'm romantically inept. That isn't any good either."

"You've got a point."

"So, then it should be okay?"

Riku nodded, trying to suppress most of the thoughts that were bubbling up inside. "And you don't think it'd be awkward?"

Sora considered this for a moment then looked at Riku with a mixture of apprehension and determination, if such a combination was possible. "Desperate times call for desperate measures. Besides, it's only awkward if you make it awkward, right?"

"You've got another point there."

"Okay, then." Sora decided, punctuating it with a nod. "What do we do first?"

Riku was still considering how many friendship tallies he was going to lose for even agreeing to this, but he grabbed Sora's wrist anyway and dragged him off to the living room.

Sora felt Riku's fingers curl around his skin, and immediately he felt nervous. He knew that just moments before he was gung-ho about it, but he had still never kissed anyone before, including any practice kisses with Riku. He didn't know what to _do,_ much less what to _expect._ He just hoped the experience wouldn't be too catastrophic.

Riku sat down in the middle of the cushions, and Sora sat down just off to his right. Their knees bumped in the process, and Sora muttered an apology before looking up at him.

Riku draped the slightly wet towel over the back of the couch. "Okay," he said with a huff. "Let's er...try it."

Sora flushed all the way to the tips of his ears. Not making a situation awkward was easier said than done, apparently. He looked up at Riku, then shifted his gaze right back down to the tops of his knees.

Riku regarded Sora with a look of sympathy. He supposed that Sora was really the only one of the two of them that had the luxury of being nervous, after all, however this turned out would really only affect him. With that in mind, he swallowed hard, and forced himself to grin. "I'll be Kairi, you be you."

Sora looked startled, flushed even more, then nodded. "Right."

"Uh," he sifted. "You're going to have to get closer than that for this to work."

"Oh. I know. I was just...er...okay." He scooted towards Riku awkwardly, running into his knee again and muttering another apology.

This time Riku didn't have to force himself to smile. He felt somewhat sorry for Sora, but at the same time, he was deeply amused. The way he was fretting like he was...it was almost cute. "Just lean forward and go for it."

Sora nodded again and actually had to force himself to move. He became painfully aware of the scent of soap Riku had used that morning in the shower—more aware than he would have been, say, two or three feet farther away, and _not_ attempting to kiss him. Still, he managed to get his head at least six or seven inches closer to his face before Riku interrupted him.

"Uh, Sora?"

"Huh? What did I do?"

He smiled reassuringly. "Nothing. It just might be significantly less awkward if you close your eyes."

"But how am I supposed to see where your lips are?"

"Figure out where they are _beforehand._"

"But—"

Riku sighed and grabbed the back of his head and forced it towards him. "_This_ is just weird, don't you think?"

Sora gulped. Riku's eyes were _directly_ in front of him and their foreheads and noses were mashed together. Riku was certainly right. It _was_ weird, but having his eyes closed was probably going to be just as bad. He nodded anyway, and with that, Riku let go of the back of his head.

Sora frowned. He was going to _do_ it this time. He leaned in like before, this time remembering to close his eyes before their faces got too close.

Riku cheated and was perfectly fine with it. What Sora didn't know wouldn't hurt him, and how else was he supposed to make sure he was doing it right? He kept one eye slightly open, unable to quell the suddenly more intense thumping of his heart in his chest, and the warmer temperature of the blood flowing through his veins as Sora slowly closed the distance between their lips. He saw the whole thing coming, and he still had to keep himself from letting out a startled gasp when it happened.

Sora's lips connected with his a little awkwardly. Apparently Sora hadn't taken as good of aim as he had thought, because the kiss landed a little off to the side of his mouth. He had also come in kind of abruptly, but it was a kiss none the less.

They stayed that way for a few moments, but then Riku felt Sora's lips tremble a bit, and he reluctantly broke it off. Consciously picking his tone, he said brightly, "there now, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Sora, who hadn't realized that he was holding his breath since before they even leaned in, took a few moments to catch it before answering. "No...I guess not." He had an odd look on his face.

Riku smiled and rubbed his head good-naturedly. "Good."

Sora nodded, wiping away the somewhat confused expression, and looked up at him a bit anxiously. "Did I...did I do it right?"

"Pretty much. Aim better, and not so hard next time."

"But...but practice makes perfect, right?"

Riku's left eyebrow arced upward sharply. "What?"

"Riku, I need to make sure I'm doing this perfectly!"

"You want to kiss me again?"

"I've only got one shot to prove to Kairi that I'm not some idiot."

"She's not going to think that."

Sora shook his head. "You don't understand. Kairi's been waiting for a really long time. I don't want to disappoint her. We have to do it again."

Sora had the innate ability to push his sympathy button. It wasn't that he was against the idea at all, in fact, if he really had to admit it to himself, he was actually rather keen to it. He just didn't think that such free-flying lip-locking was healthy. "Well..."

Sora's lower lip jutted out, a habit that he had yet to break. "It was _your_ suggestion. You're obligated to see it all the way through."

Riku nodded. If Sora kept making all of those valid points, he would be in a world of trouble before he knew it. "Alright, we'll do it again."

He nodded, leaning forward again, almost forgetting to close his eyes. This time though, the kiss was closer to the mark, and the landing was softer, almost elegant. A tingle of self satisfaction welled inside him as he felt Riku's lips slide softly over his. Perhaps this kissing business wasn't as difficult as he thought. In fact, if kissing Riku was this easy, then perhaps doing the same to Kairi wouldn't be a disaster after all. He entertained the thought for another brief moment, before focusing back onto the slightly parted articles of flesh occupying his mouth.

Riku on the other hand was having a severely difficult time not testing out some of the more _advanced_ modes of kissing he had acquired during his lifetime. He wasn't one to do these things very often, but he did know his way around an oral cavity, and the navigation of which wasn't something easily lost, even after a few years of traversing the Worlds.

He blamed it on the fact that he _was_ kissing, not on the fact that he was kissing _Sora_. It was a natural urge, after all, one tended to immediately start chewing once food was placed in the mouth, and one tended to immediately start wincing when a fist was pointed at one's face. His urges were nothing more than reflexes, and any explanation other than that was simply _not_ allowed to permeate his mind.

And even if he were to admit that any emotions behind this exchange were something more than platonic, he certainly wasn't going to willingly offer up the experience for Sora to just turn around and use later on Kairi. This lip pecking was already something he was uncomfortable with, but he was willing to offer the service because he was not only Sora's best friend, but because _this_ wasn't anything that required any actual emotional attachment. Sure, he would do anything for Sora, and his own willingness to help out his best friend in need was more than enough motivation to teach him how to kiss, even if it was ultimately for someone he didn't necessarily want Sora to share the kiss _with._ But he couldn't hide the somewhat guilty satisfaction resting in the back of his mind that _this_ kind of kissing was reserved for preschoolers messing with each other on the playground.

Riku himself wouldn't have had much problem touching his face to some stranger's, because it was, quite frankly, boring. There was nothing like the deep, heart warming satisfaction of mingling tongues, lips, teeth, gums and flesh in the mind-blowingly blissful embrace of unadulterated _passion_. All of the sappy romance movies Kairi had made the three of them watch in the past had spelled that out pretty clear within the first ten minutes, and Riku could easily conclude that to be true after his own kissing experiences.

He would go ahead and admit that there was a spark of _something_ when his lips met Sora's, and it ultimately made him curious about how something deeper might make him feel. He tucked that thought neatly away in the back of his mind though, because not only was it completely inappropriate, but then there was that "what-Sora-doesn't-know-can't-be-used-on-Kairi" thing he was keenly aware of.

Then he felt Sora pull away.

"Okay, how was that?" Sora asked, his face yet again adopting that strange, confused expression. Eagerness curled around his every word. "Was that right?"

"Yeah, not bad at all."

"Better than last time? Should I maybe not have come at you so fast? Too much pressure?"

Riku rubbed a hand over Sora's unruly collection of spikes. "No, it was perfect."

"Do...do you think Kairi would like it?"

Riku tasted something bitter in his mouth. "Don't ask me that. I have no idea."

Sora frowned, folding his arms. "Well, did _you_ like it?"

Riku wondered how many times he had lifted an eyebrow that morning. "What?"

"Did you like it?" He repeated again, completely oblivious of the implications of the question. "Is it the kind of kiss you would be okay with getting? If it is by your standards, then maybe it will be by Kairi's too."

He stifled a grumble. He didn't want to be _perfectly_ honest, so he just settled on a somewhat flat "Yeah."

Sora looked satisfied. "Maybe we should do it two or three more times, you know, just to make sure it's right?"

"Sora, I'm pretty sure you're good to go." Before he wouldn't have been so eager to dismiss such a readily available opportunity, but any further mention of Kairi was liable to completely wipe him out. "You don't want to wear out all of your lip muscles on me, right?"

A somewhat embarrassed expression crossed Sora's features, so Riku quickly added, "But if you have any more questions, or if you really feel like you need to practice, then just come back. I'll be here."

"Really?"

"What are friends for?"

A wide grin spread across his face, and he wasted no time enveloping his friend in a tight hug. "Riku, you really saved me. I owe you one!"

"Don't worry about it."

"I mean it. I'll buy you a popsicle, or one of those pineapple-sherbet cups you like so much."

Riku waved him off. "I don't need any ice cream. Just do me a favor and don't botch this, lest I look like a terrible teacher." He grinned.

"You're such a polite, chivalrous guy, aren't you? Thanks again anyway."

"Yeah, yeah." Riku leaned back against the sofa and prodded Sora's leg with his bare foot. "Now get out of here. I'm going to try to recover that hour of sleep you deprived me of when you banged my door down at seven."

Sora shuffled towards the front door. "I thought we already discussed that that was your fault. I'll see you later, okay?"

"See you."

With that, Sora headed out the door, unaware of the loud sigh of exhaustion that resonated throughout Riku's living room.

As he walked back to his house, he couldn't help but excitedly consider what had just taken place just a little while ago. Before he had walked into Riku's house, he had never kissed anyone, but now he was at least somewhat experienced. He hadn't expected the transformation to feel the way it did, but he was certainly glad he came over.

What had he been missing for all of those years? Kissing wasn't hard, or gross, or bad at all. In fact, he kind of liked it. He hadn't expected for the nerves in his lips to twist and jolt like that when they met flesh, and he certainly didn't think the cause of such reaction would come from such minimal contact. If it felt that good with a Kairi-proxy, as it were, then it surely would feel amazing with the real thing. Riku was an astoundingly good kisser—not that he had anything to compare it to—and he would have to remember to compliment him about it later.

He could hardly wait to see Kairi again that afternoon, and more importantly, later on that evening when they sat at the edge of the beach overlooking the sunset. If all went according to plan, she would think he was an experienced kisser, one who would make a more romantic boyfriend.

XxX

"So, what do you want to do now?" Kairi asked, sucking down the last of her dripping popsicle. Strawberry juice dribbled down her chin and she wiped the mess away quickly with the back of her wrist.

"I dunno. Whatever you want to do is fine."

The two of them were seated on a retaining wall just behind one of the sea shacks. It wasn't exactly a hidden area, but it was one of the quietest places on the island. The beach grass and a few tropical flowers kept the ledge from view, simultaneously adding beautiful colors to the scenery.

The two of them had just finished a movie, courtesy of Kair's home theater, and Sora offered to buy the two of them popsicles to complement the evening.

Kairi kicked her legs and hopped off the wall, tilting her head with a grin. "We could go to the beach."

"The beach?"

"Yeah," she said again, outstretching her hand and wiggling her fingers. "We can sit by the shore and watch the sunset."

Sora took the proffered digits in his hand and stroked them lightly, following her off of the wall. "Okay."

Together they headed down to the shore, the sand crunching underneath their still shoed feet. About half way down, they paused to unlace their footwear and enjoy the warm and gritty sand between their toes.

Sora knew that no matter how many Worlds he had been to, or how many sights he had seen, he would never get tired of the simple beauty of the beach on Destiny Islands. It was familiar, and inviting, something he had had a significant lack of when he was on his adventures. When he returned, he saw that the place hadn't changed at all, and this was one of the things he was most grateful for.

She spun around a bit, then sat softly on the sand. Daintily, she patted the sand next to her, which Sora sat on without hesitation. As if it was automatic, he laced his fingers with hers.

The two of them sat for a time, but the serenity of the moment soon vanished when they opted for running around in the surf.

Sora ran a little deeper into the water, scooping up a handful of water, giggling impishly as he squirted a thin stream of water in her direction.

She squealed, scooping up her own hand full of water, attempting to fire back. "Waugh!" Instead of it going in any particular direction, it sloshed down her legs and onto the sand. "How did you do that?"

Sora grinned and squirted her again. It was a trick he and Riku had learned early in in their childhood. "I'm just amazing like that."

"Is that so?" She ran forward and scooped up another handful of water, this time throwing it directly at him. For good measure, she flicked the remaining beads of water off her fingers in his direction, smiling satisfactorily as his hair matted to his forehead. "I'm just amazing like that, too."

"We'll see about that." He launched another attack.

The two of them played in the water until the horizon turned a muted tangerine and plum. The temperature cooled, and once again they were content just sitting in the sand, watching the sea, and the sky, and the disappearing sand.

Kairi laughed lightly as the spray from the incoming waves touched her bare feet. She had scooted her shoes a fair distance behind her. "This is nice."

"Yeah," he agreed, sliding his hands towards hers and intertwining the fingers. "It really is."

The sun slowly sank behind the ocean, the bottom of it rippled and distorted from the rolling waves in the distance.

The stars were visible soon, twinkling against a background of inky sky. The island had beautiful sunsets, each one more breathtaking than the last. The point at which the stars had just come out, and the faintest trace of sunlight was still visible from behind the slowly darkening ocean was Sora and Kairi's favorite; the beginning and end were still whispering secrets to each other, and nothing was definite in the stillness of the evening.

A warm breeze blew by and flicked a lock of Kairi's hair against her ear. "It's getting late."

"Yeah."

"I should probably get back." She smiled softly and squeezed Sora's hand before getting up to dust the sand from her body.

"I'll walk you back." He stood too, and walked beside her in the direction of her house.

Sora felt a little bubble of anticipation well up inside of him, and he had to consciously keep his steps at a slow walk. If he looked too eager, he might risk ruining the mood. He was going to put Riku's lesson to the test as soon as they reached her doorstep and said their goodbyes. If all went well, then he would take their relationship to a new level. Grinning inwardly, he squeezed her fingertips again, and shivered as the dull light from her porch was visible in the distance.

All too quickly he found himself standing on her porch, which was significantly quieter than Riku's. The light was shining off of her face perfectly, her lips were formed into a slight smile, and her eyes were bright and inviting and warm.

His heart was thumping a bit harder in his chest, and he felt his lips tingle. He had to remember everything Riku had taught him that morning, lest he _botch __it __up_, as his friend had so kindly put it.

"Well, goodnight Sora," she said lightly. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Goodnight Kairi."

She smiled again and turned to her door, but Sora tugged on her hand. He saw that twitch of longing on her face again, and then he knew that he had to do it.

He leaned in slowly, making sure he knew exactly where her lips were. He had aimed, and the next step was closing his eyes. He remembered not to come in so hard, to keep his lips soft and tame. Everything that Riku had said was playing in his mind over and over like an instructional record. He spared one glance upward though and felt a twinge of contentment as her eyes widened a little in surprise. He faintly heard his name in her voice before he closed the distance between them.

Their lips met, and he could feel the excitement course through Kairi's body. She smiled against his lips, and pressed them together a little harder.

Sora waited patiently for the sparks to fly, and the world to stop for just the two of them.

And he waited.

And he waited some more.

There was something about this kiss, or rather, a _lack_ of something. His lips were supposed to tingle, the electric sparks from before were supposed to intensify and set his lips aflame, and the two of them were supposed to melt into a blissful trance-like state where the only thing they would recognize was each other. He wanted that feeling from when he was kissing Riku, but he wanted it to be _better_, as he was kissing his _girlfriend_, not his _best __friend._

Of course he didn't dislike kissing her at all. In fact, he was thrilled that he made her so happy, and he liked the way her lips fit against his. He just wasn't feeling quite as much satisfaction for himself as he would have hoped. Maybe things would get better with time, just as learning to kiss had taken a few practice runs. He shook off his thoughts and pressed his lips against Kairi's again to continue the kiss.

Then he felt her hand slip onto his shoulder, and he suddenly felt awkward. A nagging compulsion in the back of his brain told he me ought to be doing _something_, as he was the one who initiated the kiss in the first place, yet Kairi had just made another move. He didn't want to waste a whole lot of time contemplating the issue, for fear of accidentally forgetting to kiss her back, so more out of will to do _something_ rather than compulsion, he put his hand around her slim waist.

Was he _improvising?_ Had he thought about it earlier, he would have immediately dismissed any ideas about deviating from the plan whatsoever, but here he was touching her waist as she touched his shoulder, and they were pressing lips together again and again. Riku would be so proud of him once he told him about it. He forgot about the sparks for the moment, and reveled in his cleverness.

Yes, this was certainly something he could do. Kissing wasn't so bad. The rest of the feelings would surely come later.

But then he felt _it._

It was so alarming that he nearly shoved her away from him and ran down the beach back to his house—possibly Riku's—to regroup, and ultimately panic himself into unconsciousness.

Her lips moved again, but this time not against his.

They _opened_.

There was a distinct gap between them, and Sora felt his lips flailing out into space like a renegade Gummi ship, forever lost in infinite darkness. Riku didn't tell him that _this_ could happen.

Thinking quickly, he pulled back ever so slightly, trying to hide his alarm. What on earth was he supposed to do when she opened her _mouth?_

A flurry of questions stormed his brain. He had thought he would be satisfied with just a little peck on the face, something light, and _easy._He never imagined that it could get _harder_. Suddenly, images of every moderately romantic movie he had ever seen played through his head with overwhelming intensity. He remembered watching the man and woman move their mouths in some sort of hidden, complicated pattern, and Sora didn't even a vague idea of what was going on between them. He hadn't paid it much thought, but now he wished he had been just a _little_ bit more curious about it.

Kari seemed a touch surprised that he pulled away, but the smile on her face never left. Her cheeks had turned a slight shade of pink, but it was a little muted by the yellow light on the porch.

Sora tried to hide his shame. Her smile erupted into a full fledge grin, but she seemed at a loss for words. Somehow "Thank-you" didn't sound like an appropriate thing to say at all. Instead, she just squeezed his shoulder again and said another quiet goodnight.

With that, she slipped into her house with a giggle.

Sora let out a held breath and contemplated banging his head against the outer walls of the house.

Since that had a high probability of making Kairi come out again perpetuating the feeling of awkwardness already spinning around inside him, he thought against it. Instead he would channel that energy into that of his fist for when He would all but tear Riku's door down the next morning.

* * *

><p>Please review!<p> 


	3. Lesson 2

Happy New Year! Thank you again to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. This one has a lot of kissy-face, as do the next few after it, so just giving you fair warning. I know I said earlier that it wouldn't contain a lot of SoKu stuff, but apparently I lied. XD

Also, much thanks to Hito Me Bore for derailing all of my plans for this story and forcing an extra week between updates. It got a much needed plot boost, so I guess I can forgive her. :)

* * *

><p>Riku woke up to one of the most horrible noises he had ever experienced in his entire existence.<p>

A deep, pounding was coming from downstairs, like a hundred war drums battling for the highest volume. Mixed in was an eerie hissing and wheezing sound, much like Sora when he had a head cold, and a sharp sound like wood splintering into thousands of pieces at the will of a hurricane added in to give the whole auditory experience that extra touch of _pain_.

The whole thing was heightened by the fact that he hadn't even been out of bed when he heard it, and the horrid racket didn't just _wake_ him up, but rather, it _scared_ him up.

As he sat up in bed, nearly giving himself whiplash in the process, he listened to the sound to determine where exactly his house was being attacked. He leaped out of bed and scurried down the stairs, nearly stubbing his toes in the process. All that mattered was that his home was being assaulted by some wildly aggressive beast, and he had to do all in his power to save it.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he realized that the ferocious din was coming from the other side of his door, and as soon as the realization sunk into his mind, he let out a deep sigh. Had he actually been awake, he would have been able to guess what the clatter came from, and he probably would have spared himself a near heart attack, too.

He looked up at his poor door, and it was doing all within its power to _not_ splinter. The middle of it was bulging as it was attacked from the other side, and he was certain he saw some of the paint chip off.

With another sigh, he twisted the knob.

"Riku!" Sora yelled, shoving past his friend as soon as he had seen his face appear in the opening. "Riku, I've got a big problem!"

It had to have been _much_ bigger than the one the day before, Riku decided, taking a few moments to survey the abused wood. Yesterday he had managed to sleep past a significant portion of the knocking...

"Sora, if you keep this up, you're going to have to buy me a new door."

Sora looked confused for a moment, then noticed the careful attention Riku was paying to the wooden object. Doors were far less significant than _this_ problem. Sora would buy him a hundred doors if that was what he wanted. Right then though, he needed to have a nice informational chat with Riku. "Whatever," he waved him away. "We have more important things to talk about!"

"Like how much sand is going to blow in because I won't have an adequate barrier protecting the inside of my home from the elements? Or how my privacy will be nonexistent on this level of the house because of gaping holes in the wood?"

"No! Much bigger than that!"

"Is that so?" Riku said with a sigh, closing the tortured wood and cringing as it had a little trouble fitting into frame. "Well, what is it this time? More kissing woes?"

"You'd better believe it!" Sora all but shouted. "And I'd thank you to answer your door quicker, please! That's a fine way to treat someone facing imminent disaster."

Riku frowned. "It's _seven_ in the morning! Couldn't you have waited until at least nine? Didn't you learn your lesson yesterday?"

"No!" Sora roared, already feeling precious time tick away. "I most certainly could not have waited! Maybe you should just start getting up earlier."

"So says someone who usually sleeps until noon."

"Yeah, well, I'm in a state of emergency."

"You could try calling! I have a functioning telephone for just such formalities."

Sora waved him off. "We've been friends long enough to where formalities aren't necessary anymore."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't get the memo."

"Well, here it is." Sora frowned. "But that's not even important right now. I just need you to help me."

Riku ran a hand through his hair and groaned a little. He supposed it was one thing for Sora to barge over unannounced for something random, but if he really was in as serious of trouble as he claimed to be, he supposed he should do the proper thing and help him, regardless of how reluctant he was to get up early for the _second_ day in a row. "Okay," he said. "Am I allowed to take a shower before we talk, or would you prefer my rustic, unkempt, rugged glow?"

"Shower if you must, but hurry it up. Don't waste time with unnecessary stuff like lotion."

Riku chuckled and headed up the stairs. "Right, I'll be back in a minute."

"I'm timing you!" Sora called out, watching his form disappear up the staircase. He huffed and walked in the living room to sit on the couch.

This entire week was already turning out to be a fine mess. He hoped he hadn't damaged his relationship with Kairi too badly in one night, but he suspected that if things kept going how they were going, that might become very real possibility. If he had just known how to kiss in the first place, then none of this would have even been an issue. Now he was getting Riku involved, and he was getting up early...

This all would have been marginally better if kissing Kairi the night before was a little less_ bland_, but even after all of the work he (and subsequently Riku) had put into this, he wasn't even properly rewarded for his efforts.

On top of all that, he had to learn what in the heck that _open mouth_ thing was all about, and he had to learn it before he saw Kairi again, lest he look like a complete and utter invalid in front of her.

Briefly, he wondered how many years he had shaved off his life with all of the worrying he had done in the past two days.

He hoped Riku would be able to solve this problem as easily as he had the day before.

A few moments later, the person in mind stood at the top of the staircase, this time sans towel. His hair was still a bit damp, but he looked put-together enough.

"Okay," he said with a huff, descending the stairs with a quirked eyebrow. "What happened now?"

"I kissed Kairi last night."

The eyebrow arched up even further, disappearing under the fall of silver bangs. "Wow. You certainly didn't waste any time."

"I didn't want to forget anything."

Riku sat down on the couch next to him. Immediately he felt sympathetic. "She liked it, right?"

Sora fidgeted in his seat, his face flushing to an impossible shade of red. Riku didn't know how to console someone after a botched kiss, but he certainly felt badly for him.

"Actually, yeah." Sora said at last, seemingly forcing the words out. "She liked it. That's the problem."

Riku frowned, now thoroughly confused. He didn't see how Kairi liking a kiss from her boyfriend was a problem for anyone but himself. Hurriedly, he tucked the last bit of that thought away. "Um...what?"

Sora was glowing at this point, and his knee bobbed up and down rapidly as he spoke. "I did everything you said to do yesterday. I aimed, I closed my eyes, and I hit it right on the mark. I remembered not to kiss her too hard." He found it important to mention his improvisation so as to cushion his ego for later on. "I even put my hand around her waist, because she put her hand on my shoulder, and it just seemed like something I should do!"

"Well, that's good, right?" He felt a very faint pang of envy course through him.

"Yeah, but Riku...she...she did something."

Riku frowned again wondering what on earth the girl could have done to make Sora that nervous. All of the things that popped into his mind seemed inappropriate, and a few of them were downright impossible. He quickly decided to let Sora fill in the blanks before he made any definite assumptions. "What?"

"Well, when I kissed her...she kind of...she kind of opened her mouth."

It was as if Sora's very _cells_ were embarrassed at the thought, and the red hue his skin was turning was downright unbelievable.

Riku didn't know what to think. It was clear that his attempt at keeping the more intimate aspects of kissing hidden were unexpectedly being unraveled. He grimaced internally, because he knew what this visit would ultimately lead to. Sure, he would enjoy instructing Sora on the finer aspects of kissing, and he would have that lovely internal debate about exactly _how_ guilty he should feel about enjoying it, but ultimately, everything he had taught Sora, no matter how much affection Riku would end up pumping into it, would be taken back and used on Kairi.

With the inevitability of it all though, he could at least dismiss some of the guilt from himself, after all it wasn't like he was making Sora cheat on Kairi. As far as he was concerned, Sora was only interested in learning from him, not enjoying it from him. It didn't matter what Riku felt about any of it because Sora's heart, as always, was in the noble, pure, and correct place. Instead, he could focus all of his guilt on the fact that he was _using_ Sora's problem for his own advantage, but that was something he could ignore pretty easily for the time being.

Trying not to get too wrapped up in his own thoughts, lest Sora think he had stopped listening, he pushed them away. "She opened her mouth, huh? Sounds like she wanted more than just a peck on the lips, Sora."

"What would that be?"

Amusement coursed through Riku, briefly cutting through his somewhat depressing thoughts. Sora was so oblivious that it was downright adorable. "You engage your whole mouth."

Apparently the red had receded some during the few words he had uttered, but as soon as Riku let his brief explanation out into the open air, the red was back at full intensity. "What?"

Riku nodded. "You remember all of those romance movies, right? It's the same thing, without the makeup and the really bad lines...and the confidence in knowing that whatever gets messed up will end up on the editing room floor."

Sora looked as if he was about to come unglued at his very seams, so Riku put a friendly hand on his shoulder.

"You've got to be kidding me. Riku, I don't know how to do any of that! What am I supposed to do?"

It was on Riku's lips to discourage him from taking any actions at all, thus hindering any further physical contact he and Kairi would have for the next several months at least, but he began to get those pangs of guilt again, and it was this that made him conclude that the friendship clause was not in his favor today. Instead, he replied, "You can start by relaxing."

Sora obliged Riku by taking a few deep breaths, but it didn't help in the slightest. He knew that the only thing that could cure his nerves would be the instantaneous learning of how to kiss, but he wasn't sure about how reluctant Riku would be about being the instructor. He knew that Riku had said the day before that he would be willing to help him out again, and he had conveniently added that it included any further lessons in kissing, but Sora wasn't sure how far he would be able to exploit it.

If the whole thing sounded as involved as he thought it did, he wasn't sure Riku would feel as comfortable sharing such an intimate moment with him, especially since he supposed it wasn't gratifying for him at all. He didn't want to make Riku feel obligated (even though he was...he had _said_ it after all), and he certainly didn't want to take advantage of their friendship.

But, this was the proverbial 'desperate time,' and Sora's personal needs were immediate enough to call for those desperate measures. If he had to, he would exploit Riku's offer from the day before. He would hold every instance Riku had ever owed him over his head. He would whine, cry, and if all else failed, he would refuse to leave his friend's house until he had properly instructed him onto the more complicated aspects of kissing. If they had to lock lips for the next few hours, then so be it. Riku could just shake the awkwardness of it off after Sora left his house in a while, while Sora could take the much needed experience to prevent potentially mortifying embarrassment. The sacrifice was worth it.

"Teach me how to do it, then." Sora said at last, forcing himself to look Riku in the eye even after the hand twitched slightly on his shoulder.

Riku's eyes widened. Of course the prospect had crossed his mind, but hearing it out loud, furthermore from a mouth that was definitely _not _his, was startling. His jaw hung open. "You want _me_ to teach you?"

"Well, I'm kind of out of options here!"

"But _me?_"

Sora began to get just a touch insulted. He wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea either, but it wasn't _that_ horrible. The two of them were best friends, possibly closer than Sora was to his own parents, so a little practice kissing here and there seemed almost like a natural thing to participate in, especially when it was of high importance. Moreover, Riku had _suggested_ it the day before, and had been more than happy to oblige his knowledge for a few hours. The only difference here was that there was a bit more...activity. Sora was positive both of them would be able to overlook it rather easily.

Riku would just have to suck it up.

"Yes you! You're going to teach me how to kiss, and that's final."

Riku was having such a bad morning. He had barely been up an hour and already his morality and responsibility were being tried against the highly biased and more often than not _treacherous_ bounds of his own satisfaction. Making the right decisions wasn't part of his realm of thinking at this point; he was more concerned with not making the _wrong_ one. A winner could not be declared for quite some time, so it seemed.

It was hard to think about, but this whole thing could turn out to be _life changing_, namely, he and Sora could potentially never speak to each other again. Of course, that would mean that he would have to expose his more than platonic thoughts, and he wasn't about to do _that_ any time soon, but the lingering, nagging thought that the truth could come out sent his reluctance on overdrive.

Then there was the fact that he was taking advantage of a friend. The idea of ignoring it was pretty easily entertained earlier, but now that the opportunity was lying fresh and tempting in his lap, his reservations were starting to poke through his once fairly sturdy barrier of self-assurance. It wasn't right, no matter how concealable the facts were.

Then there was that little issue with Kairi, which opened up a museum full of Pandora's boxes, and sorting through the proper path through them was something a lifetime of mental stamina wouldn't be able to get him through. The easiest and best way to get out of this mess was to just neatly and politely excuse himself from it altogether.

"Sora, maybe you should talk to Kairi about this. I'm sure she'll underst—"

Sora roughly grabbed his shoulders, eyebrows arched so sharply downwards that he resembled some sort of evil creature. "'No' is not an option, Riku!"

Riku was taken aback, and had no choice but watch with a touch of fear as Sora inhaled.

"Listen, Riku, you're my best friend, and I had better be yours. We've been through thick, and thin, and thinner, and thinnest, and through all of it, I've considered your feelings before taking any action on anything. I respect your opinions, and your wishes, and I try my best to oblige you, but right now, I really don't care about what you think, or how uncomfortable this makes you. You're going to teach me how to kiss with your entire mouth, or I will drag you by the hair to your basement and beat you until you do!"

Words were lost to Riku. All of the careful thoughts he had planted in his head had died before even germinating properly, and the only thing occupying his barren wasteland of a mental garden was the sight of Sora's strangely angry—and a tiny bit flustered—face. If he opened his mouth he feared that he would never be able to close it again, so instead, he nodded slowly.

"Good," Sora said, letting out a breath. A shade or two of red crept back onto his face, and he folded his hands in his lap. "And...um...thank you."

Riku nodded again, unsure of how he was supposed to feel. He waited a few moments for Sora to calm down, and perhaps for _himself_ to collect a bit better too, before leaning his shoulder against the back of the couch.

"Okay," he said slowly, trying his best to keep the uncertainty out of his voice. He felt that more-than-platonic feeling creep into his bones, so he vocally banished it away. "I'll be Kairi, you be you."

Sora nodded enthusiastically, the red color of his skin blurring a little with the movement.

He couldn't keep his eyes off of Riku's lips, as he knew that in a matter of seconds they would be mashed against his own. Still though, he tried to pay attention as his friend spoke, lest he be in for an embarrassingly avoidable surprise.

"The last time it might not have been as big of a deal, but if you freak out with this one, chances are you're going to—"

"Botch it up. Right."

Riku nodded, sighing. "Uh, since you're going to initiate it, when you want to _go for it_, you're going to have to...uh…brush your tongue over my...uh, lips."

Sora blanched, offering an interesting change of pigment to the previous rose. "What? Why?"

"It's a signal."

"Well, obviously not everyone is well versed in kissing signals. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to _ask_?"

"Okay Sora. The next time you're engaged in an otherwise fairly romantic moment with Kairi, break lips with her and politely ask if you can shove your tongue in her mouth."

That seemed to get him to quiet for a moment, and for this Riku was glad. He needed to concentrate. "Don't go putting the whole thing in, either. Just kind of...touch."

Sora quirked his head to the side, partially because he wasn't sure Riku's vague instructions were helpful, and partly because he felt somewhat awkward that he was having this discussion with him in the first place.

Riku noticed his expression and rolled his eyes. It was bad enough that this was occurring, but it was even worse that neither one of them were all that comfortable with it, regardless of how their reasons differed. "We should just...do it. You'll learn faster that way."

Sora nodded, again, watching Riku's lips as he formed each letter, not fully convinced that this was going to end well at all. Swallowing his nerves—as he had no choice—he watched with a mixture of apprehension and anticipation as Riku neared him, his eyes slid shut just moments before their lips connected.

Sora felt better as he was in the midst of it all. It was no different than yesterday thus far, he thought calmly, reveling in the easy familiarity of Riku's lips pressing softly against his. There was a faint smack when he briefly lifted up, then he came back down, Riku's bottom lip wedging just slightly between his own.

His nerves all but dissolved. This was easy; this required no initiation on his part. Riku was kissing him now, and he was kissing back, of course, but at that moment, nothing was being expected of him beyond his capabilities.

He was considering this quite merrily, when he felt Riku increase pressure just a bit, the soft expanse of his lips becoming a just a touch more pert.

He supposed that was his signal to _signal_ and with a mixture of fear, shyness and curiosity, he parted his lips just enough to let the tip of his tongue slide out, and graze the underside of Riku's upper lip. There was a tiny jolt as the sensitive tip of his tongue met warm, soft flesh, and he nearly let out a startled gasp when he adjusted to fit the new contour of his lips.

Whatever uneasiness Sora had felt in those moments had vanished. A somato-sensory experience like Sora had never felt erupted from within.

Riku inhaled ever so slightly, just enough to where the light scent of mint toothpaste ghosting about the contours of his mouth flickered into Sora's nostrils; just enough so that the very tail end of Sora's own released breath was sucked in to the warm, pink cavern, spiraling down his steadily moving throat and into the pit of his chest, and he quite literally took his breath away; just enough so that his own tongue could slip through the small opening and he could enthusiastically return the gesture.

Sora felt his balance leave him, and he instinctively reached for Riku's shoulder. His fingers clasped the partially damp material, reflexively twitching when the tip of Riku's tongue slid down the middle of his own, taste buds positively bristling with some sort of internal electrical current.

The feeling surprised him, and he jerked forward, his lips running forcefully into Riku's, their teeth scraping together a bit with the impact. Sora didn't think it was possible, but the movement seemed to encourage—or perhaps the term was _signal_ now—some sort of equally as stunning movement from Riku. Sora didn't know if he was drawing form one of his ambiguous personal experiences, or not, but he slid his tongue slowly across his bottom row of teeth, a dull scraping sound in the background as his fingers clutched the back of the couch.

Sora didn't know what to do, but the jolts whizzing by every nerve ending in his mouth, especially the tip of his tongue were telling him things he could not quite pick up. He didn't understand their existence, and thoughts were dully clawing at the back of his mind like some sort of pet against the bars of a cage in the next room. He was curious about the tingles, and the shivers, and when Riku took another short breath, the scent of mint and the curious shock of nerve endings meeting nerve endings when their lips and tongues collided met his senses, his lips moved on their own accord, attacking Riku's with a fervor he did not knew he possessed. It was as if he was desperate to decode the sparks, to understand them, to consume them until he was overflowing.

Riku acknowledged the movement with only a touch of notable surprise, before he bowed his head just slightly, nose angled so that it brushed the side of Sora's faintly. Gently, he bit down on his lower lip, tugging ever so slightly so as to distract Sora from his urgency. He spoke so quietly his breath barely left his mouth. "Slow down a little."

And Sora obliged, temporarily stunned from the sound of Riku's voice melting into his ears, and the sensation of warm breath and moving lips dancing off the nerves in his own.

A few moments later Riku was instructing him again, his voice containing only a trace of vocal sound. He was telling him something about his hands, something about placement, but Sora had been deaf to most of it, as a wave of something crashed over him, and he was steadily trying to figure out a way to keep from drowning.

At some point though, he felt Riku's fingers trailing up the side of his neck, the heel of his palm resting in the groove between his neck and shoulder. He felt a digit slide across his jawbone, and then back down, until finally it came to a rest just at the base of his neck.

And then he heard it.

The unmistakably deep and obviously pleased sound…

Of a _moan._

Sora's eyes snapped open in surprise.

Sora couldn't help but feel flattered. Afterall, if Riku was this excited, perhaps he wasn't that bad of a kisser after all. He stopped moving to thank Riku for all of his successful teaching, but Riku didn't stop, this time his other arm encircling around his shoulders, pulling Sora in deeper, his lips moving steadily. Another moan followed, and this time it carried his name, whispered, breathy and every bit beyond what would be considered normal for a teacher-pupil relationship.

_Oh._

Shocked now into panic, Sora pushed back a little against Riku's shoulders, hoping he would get the hint, but if anything, Riku's grip tightened, fingers twisting into his hair. Had it been Kairi, Sora might have been a little bit more receptive to the idea, but this was _certainly not_ her, and this was _definitely_ his best friend.

"Um…Riku?" He squeaked a little louder this time. "Riku? You can stop kissing me now…"

Suddenly, Riku seemed to snap back into reality. He pulled back sharply, releasing Sora as if he were some kind of hazardous material; the color draining from his face.

Sora decided to speak up first. "Heh heh…wow, Riku! Thanks for all your help. I mean, clearly I've learned a lot since you were…"

The mortified look that crossed Riku's face kept him from completing his sentence. "Er…I mean, you're a really good teacher. I can't believe how helpful you've been. You're really the best friend in the world."

Riku's eyes were wide as dinner plates, his face still the color of chalk. He managed a very faint nod, and was able to croak out a nearly inaudible "you're welcome."

Sora was so uncomfortable he could barely see. This explained a lot of things, actually. "Heh, heh…right. I can't wait to try this out on my girlfriend…who is Kairi. Thanks again best friend. I owe you."

"No problem," Riku whispered again.

"Are um…are you okay?"

Riku paused for a moment, then shook his head, looking every bit as though he wanted to forget the day had even come. He cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes. "Yes, fine. Never better. But, you know, I just remembered that I have to—"

"—Right. Uh…"

"Er…yeah—"

"Okay so I'll see you—"

"Later then?"

"Yes, later."

"Okay!"

"Okay!"

Sora spared a final look at Riku, noticing how flushed his face had become, and felt the tips of his ears burning. "Bye!"

Riku muttered out his own goodbye, but Sora had already shuffled out the door.


	4. Propositon

Hello! Sorry for the delay with this one. Graduate school apps have eaten up every available second (and if you feel sorry for me, definitely check out the link on my profile! Haha.) Welcome back for Chapter 4, though. I suppose I should have taken time to warn everyone about the dreadful amount of second-hand embarrassment rampant in the last chapter. Less so here, but I'll go head and give you a few warnings: 1. More kissy face. 2. Deception that I think is obvious, but apparently isn't.

There now! Butt = covered? In any case, here's chapter 4, and thank you again for reading!

* * *

><p>Sora rolled around on his bed, the comforter and pillows having long been strewn off of the mattress and onto the floor. While usually content nestled deep within the confines of his bedding, the faint glow of his cell phone and dull ache of sadness that bubbled up inside him whenever he looked at it served as a very hard reminder that a very important part of his life was wrong.<p>

He tilted his head upward, hair dragging against the wrinkled sheets and mussed blanket. The phone was buried beneath a fold of material and he gingerly reached for it, hoping with all his might that there was a message or call blinking on the screen. Checking it, he found only the clock.

Sora grumbled and pushed the phone away from him, rubbed his eyes and sat up. He had picked up his phone probably upwards of ten times, each in an attempt to call Riku, but his fingers simply locked up when he thought of pressing the buttons. The phone slipped from his grip and landed with a soft thud against his mattress, silent.

He supposed he could have just handled things like he usually did: rush in, start talking, keep talking, talk some more, and then hope for the best, but he thought that perhaps for something so seemingly delicate that he needed to at least have a game plan.

He had spent the entire night and the wee hours of the morning in the shelter of his room, brooding about his surely domed relationship with Kairi and awkwardly replaying the events of the mess with Riku over and over again in his head.

Riku couldn't been…surely he didn't…

Sleep had eluded him that night, but surely he hadn't gone completely insane. He rolled over in his sheets, effectively hiding his entire body as he considered a possibility.

Riku had been a little enthusiastic about the kiss. That was fine. If people didn't like kissing then they probably wouldn't do it all the time. Maybe it was a sign that Sora was just getting really good at the craft. Maybe it was a sign that he was improving on the finer aspects of kissing, and Riku was offering a sort of vocal compliment that was short and word-free for convenience purposes.

Or maybe he was actually one of the worst kissers Riku had ever encountered in all of his life, and was just _uniquely_ expressing some pity. He grimaced.

Well, judging by the way that Riku was grabbing his shoulders, he was pretty sure he could rule that last one out, both to his relief, and to his dismay.

That meant other than option one, there had to be some other reason afoot outside of Sora's kissing skill. Riku didn't appear to be sick, or overly emotional at the time, and the two of them had spent a significant amount of time hanging out with each other since their return to the Islands. That meant that this obviously hadn't sprung from some silent need for Sora's company. The shocked expression on Riku's face didn't indicate an attempt at a practical joke either.

He rubbed his head. Even though he knew Riku for so long, he still found aspects of his personality and behaviors too enigmatic for his liking. Sora himself was a self-admitted open book and he preferred it that way. The only way to get anything out of Riku that wasn't competitiveness or dispassion was to ask him about it up front.

Sora scooped up his phone again and furiously punched in Riku's phone number, easy after memorizing it years ago. They were best friends. _Best friends._ Sure, Sora and Kairi had started dating and that had changed things between them a little bit, and sure, Riku and Kairi hadn't really talked much since they had returned, and maybe Riku did have that strange, faintly sour look on his face every time he mentioned her name, but that didn't mean…

Sora shook his head. No, absolutely not. There had to be something else. There just had to be!

The phone slipped from his hands again as he tried to convince himself that the train his brain was going on was completely illogical. Replaying the events of the day before, he visualized exactly what had happened. The kiss got a little too intense. Fine. They pulled away from each other. That was good. The look on Riku's face though…

Sora frowned. It was a horrified look, a mixture of embarrassment, rejection and something else that Sora couldn't quite place.

His cheeks reddened as he let the thought ghost over the planes of his mind. Did Riku likehim?

_Like _him, _like _him?

_Like _him like _Kairi_ liked him?

With a feeling of horror suddenly coursing through his body, he ran a hand down his array of brown spikes, fluffed out from rolling around in his bed sheets. It made sense, as much as he hated to admit it. It made perfect sense.

The not-so-friendly looks he received whenever he talked about Kairi, the subtle, yet noticeable possessiveness that Sora had mistaken all this time for a side effect of being separated for so long, the expression on his face after they pulled apart…

But if this was true…if Riku really _did_ like him, that would mean…

Sora let out a very audible growl, suddenly wishing he could kick himself. How could he have been so blind? Watching him interact with Kairi, talk about her, gush over her must have been utter torture for Riku. Then he had the gall to come over and ask Riku how to kiss her? No wonder Riku looked so sad. And how had he reacted in return? He had spurned Riku's feelings like some kind of cruel seductress, using him for his knowledge and helpfulness then casting him aside when he was finished. What kind of friend was he? Riku should have hated him. Riku should have never invited him in for that second kiss, should have protected himself for the cruelties that Sora himself could not have anticipated possessing, but no. Riku, the ever true friend that he was allowed him back for a second lesson, cradling their friendship against his broken heart…

Sora's stomach sank.

There had to be something he could do to make it up to him. The question was what. He couldn't imagine what the pain of unrequited love felt like. If Kairi had rejected him, he wasn't sure of what he would have done, especially if she had gone off to date Riku instead. He would think it would be difficult, if not impossible to maintain friendship with both people. Riku had a tendency to keep things passive-aggressively bottled up inside, and who knew how long this had been going on. If Riku was just as effective at hiding love as he was pretty much every other emotion, then experience told him that it very well could have been anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.

Sora felt like quite possibly the worst friend in all of the land, having not been paying close enough attention to a now somewhat obvious problem. There had to be some way to fix this. He didn't want to break up with Kairi, but he certainly didn't want to give up his friendship with Riku, either. Both of them were extremely important to him, and the thought of losing either one of them made a shiver run through his body.

Rolling over again in his bed, he looked up at the ceiling. There had to be a way to keep both Riku and Kairi happy while he kept both of his relationships with them intact. He could not choose one over the other. Both of them occupied very big spaces in his heart; bigger than what he allowed for most people. The problem was figuring out where to label the _type_ of love without causing one catastrophic, heart-shaped meltdown.

Then a thought occurred to him. He did not want to pick between Kairi and Riku…

But maybe he didn't have to…

XxX

_There was a dull squeak downstairs. Riku barely heard it, having been woken up the past two mornings by nothing short of the sound of his door splitting apart, the result of Sora trying to get into his house Despite this though, he rolled out of bed, pausing to wipe his eyes and run a hand through his hair. Normally the prospect of someone breaking and entering into his home would have sent him into a frenzy, where he would have all too happily summoned his Keybade to tear the limbs off of anyone foolish enough to tromp uninvited into the abode of someone very familiar with controlling dark powers. For some reason though, he took his time to calmly pull himself from the will of sleep and find out what was making the racket._

_There was another sound, this time like a door closing, and footsteps on the floor._

Okay, _Riku thought. Whoever was downstairs milling around in his living room either had a key, or magical powers enabling them to slip through solid wood. Even this realization did nothing to hurry him from his room, as he even bothered to walk past a mirror in hopes that his hair wasn't too dreadfully unkempt. As he passed the mirror, he noticed that his walls were mauve. He hadn't remembered them being mauve before… He paused to examine the new coat of paint, and appreciated how carefully the job had been done, as though someone had dipped the wall in paint before setting it upright. Color aside, it was quite pleasant to look at, especially since he didn't remember painting it in the first place._

_He somehow managed to walk himself to the top of the stairs, still trying to clear the vestiges of sleep from his body. He let out a great yawn and stretched, descending the stairs, following the direction of whomever had found it so pertinent to come into his house without asking permission._

_To his surprise, when he landed bare-barefoot and slack-jawed at the bottom of the stairs, Sora was sitting on his couch, looking as though he belonged there, and that Riku was the one who should have been more contentious about being in the room._

"_Sora," he said with a start, wondering how the heck he got into his house, furthermore why he was still willing to be in his company after the surely _infamous_ kiss from the day before._

_Sora stood, brushing invisible dust from his pants legs, and faced Riku, a coy smile pulling across his face. "Hi Riku," he said genially. "It's about time you got up."_

_Riku gulped and bothered to spare a glance at the clock on the wall. "What do you mean? It's seven in the morning."_

_Sora shrugged. "Technicalities."_

"_A very important technicality; however second in line considering that you're in my house…unannounced and," he added, surveying the almost giddy expression on his face "not hating my guts. What do you want?"_

_Sora didn't say anything for a moment, but just kept staring at him with that same grin. "What do you think I want?"_

"_I don't see any weapons, so I'm at a loss here."_

"_Guess."_

"_It's early. Help me out."_

_Sora tipped his face upward and giggled…he actually let out a full-fledged giggle. Riku's eyebrows shot downward. There was something very wrong happening here. This could not be Sora._

"_Okay look. I don't have any idea why you're here, or even how you got in here, but if you could do me a favor and leave, that would be great. If you happen to run into the real Sora on your way out, do me a favor and tell him you stole his face. He probably hasn't noticed yet."_

_The Sora before him stopped giggling and settled on a small smile instead, seeming to understand something greater than what Riku possibly could. This was perhaps the most unnerving part of the whole situation._

"_I am Sora. Stop being silly."_

"_The real Sora would have been shredding my door down to get in, but he would still have waited until I came down to let him in…probably because he couldn't afford to replace it, but that's beside the point." His words didn't seem to have any effect; the smile was still present, and he certainly didn't look interested in leaving. "How did you get in here in the first place?"_

"_Through the door, obviously."_

"_But I never…" Riku looked over at the door, then back to Sora, rather, Sora-proxy. He opened his mouth to say something, but Sora looked at him pityingly, the smile just beneath._

"_You're right," he said with a chuckle in his voice. "I'm sorry. I was just in a hurry to see you."_

"_Why?"_

"_I have a major problem."_

_Riku's eyebrows went up. This sounded all too familiar. He narrowed his eyes. "What?"_

"_You won't laugh at me, will you?"_

"_I never guarantee that."_

"_Try."_

"_Fine. What is it?"_

_Sora bowed his head as though he were afraid of being struck, a stark contrast to the self-assured, almost condescending way he was standing there earlier. A faint blush covered his cheeks, and Riku felt a brief yet sudden surge of déjà vu crash over him. It wasn't pleasant._

"_Riku," Sora said quietly. "I've never kissed anyone before."_

_Riku stood slack-jawed for the second time that morning. "You what?"_

"_Don't look at me like that. It's embarrassing enough as it is!"_

"_What are you talking about? You've already asked me about—"_

"_This is really serious Riku. I don't know what to do."_

_Riku's temple twitched. Sora looked genuinely worried- hands clasped, a face the picture of piteousness. He imagined that this was going to play out in only one foreseeable way. He crossed his arms and added experimentally, "Let me guess. You want me to teach you how to kiss, right?"_

"_Would you? You'd be the greatest friend in the world if you would!"_

_Something about the utter joyousness that rang in Sora's voice, the look of complete and utter thankfulness that was disturbingly powerful against the alarm of danger clawing at the back of Riku's mind. As if this whole scenario hadn't just happened two days prior, as if he didn't already know that saying yes to this would cause a rift in their friendship that he wasn't sure could be mended. He peeked between his fingers and looked up at Sora, hoping that the smile would go away, that the hopefulness would leak from his being like water being rung out of a towel, and that he'd somehow get his memory back before this train derailed, crashed and burned again._

"_And you don't want to weigh the possible pros and cons?"_

"_Why would I do anything like that?"_

"…_This doesn't sound the slightest bit familiar to you?"_

"_No. Should it?" A look of outrage crossed Sora's face. "Wait, who else has asked to kiss you recently?"_

_Riku shook his head and ran his hand down his face. "No one. I'm just…really…"He didn't even know what to finish his sentence with, so he left it silently, hoping that somehow the morning would start making sense._

_The smile on Sora's face was still there, but the look of gratitude only increased, a faint glow radiating from Sora's face as though no one in this would could possibly possess such kindness. Riku rolled his eyes. "You're sure?"_

"_Of course I am."_

_He thought so._

"_Alright then." If Sora was so dead-set on ruining their friendship again, then far be it from him to stop it. The first time it was certainly, definitely, positively Riku's fault. This time around, it would still certainly, definitely, positively be his fault, but Sora could accept some of the blame as well. "If you're absolutely sure about it, I will. Sit on the couch."_

_Sora did as he was told, not at all nervous or tense as he had been before. In fact, he looked almost eager. Riku sat tentatively down on the couch next to Sora, not sure of what he was supposed to doing. He felt like he was suspended in some kind of novel, where the pages flipped and he was at the mercy of whatever text was to follow…only _he_ had definitely read this story before. Sora wasted no time closing the distance between them, his hand resting on Riku's shoulder, while the other rested in his lap, fingers flexing._

"_Okay," Riku said with a sigh. "I'll be Kairi, you be you." _

_A dark chuckle escaped Sora's mouth, and the hand resting in his lap came up to tap Riku's chin. "Who said anything about Kairi?"_

"_Well, no one. I just assumed since she's you're girlfrie—"_

_Suddenly, the finger on his chin traced up his jaw-line, tangling in the hair at the back of his head, quickly pushing his face forward. Sora pressed his lips firmly yet gently against Riku's. The kiss was anything but the shy and tentative peck he was expecting. It was confident, sure, direct. This was certainly not the work of someone who had never kissed before._

_Riku's eyes widened as Sora pulled back, running his tongue along his upper lip._

"_How was that?" Sora asked breathlessly._

_Riku wasn't completely sure that he hadn't passed out. "You mean _what_ was that?"_

"_Should I try it again?"_

_Riku put his hand up, waiting for his system to kick back into functioning. Sora just…Sora just… "Wait, wait, wait, wait…" he said, his voice cracking. "How did you…what did you…"_

"_Didn't you like it? I can try it again if you want." He licked his lips again, his eyes twinkling. "If we keep at it all day, I'm sure I'll get it in no time."_

_Riku looked behind Sora to make sure that there wasn't evidence of some prank being played on him. Admittedly, what he did to Sora was cruel, but _this? _This was downright inhumane. _

"_Let me just make sure I'm clear on some things first," Riku said, his voice sounding desperate, even to him. "You want to learn how to kiss so that you can be a better boyfriend to Kairi, right? Tell me I'm right."_

_Sora chuckled at him, fingers dislodging from his hair gently running down his neck and collar bone. "Is that what you want to hear, Riku? That you're right?"_

"_Yes. That is what I want to hear more than anything else in this world. Tell me I'm right!"_

"_And why is that?"_

_Riku paused for a moment, Eyes locked on Sora's. Well, he wasn't really sure of the answer to that one. All he knew was that reason was running around frantically pounding the 'abort' switch in his brain, and that hearing that Sora still wanted and loved Kairi was the only way to calm it down. He couldn't ignore the way that Sora was playing with the collar of his shirt, or the coy, knowing way that he was looking at him, as if his insides had somehow become his outsides and everything that he had ever thought or felt was being read just as plain and clear as a newspaper beneath a magnifying glass._

_Sora looked up at him expectantly, as if he knew whatever Riku was going to say was going to be easily refuted._

"_Because…because…you care about her and you love her."_

_Sora gave that same dark chuckle again, and Riku felt his heart skip two or three beats before rapidly kicking into high gear. He wasn't sure what Sora was going to say, but the terror coursing through his veins was enough to make him want to crawl into the fetal position._

"_Let me help you, Riku." Sora said slowly, his hand moving back to his jaw, pulling his face forward. "You don't want me to tell you that I'm doing this for Kairi because you think I love or care about her."_

"_I don't?"  
><em>

"_Of course not." He grinned, revealing a set of pearly teeth. "You want me to say it because you think it will make you a better friend. You want to believe you're doing me a favor, and that nothing you or I feel between this favor matters because in the end I love Kairi, and am best friends with you. Right?"_

"…_Um…"_

"_It doesn't matter what you feel because in my head, I'm kissing her, but that's okay with you because you get to keep your loyalty, regardless of whether or not it's hurting you on the inside. That's what you've been telling yourself, right?"_

_Sora leaned in, his breath hot on Riku's lips. "But it doesn't feel nearly as good as the real thing, does it?" Before Riku had a second to process what was going on, Sora was kissing him, his grip firm on Riku's shoulder and back fingers pressing into tense muscles. The world fell off its axis for Riku, and for a moment, that was okay. Because Sora was kissing him; _really _kissing him, and not in the Riku-is-Kairi-and-Sora-is-Sora kind of way._

"_I don't understand," he muttered, breathless and weary._

_Sora kissed along his jaw, stopping just before his lips to press their foreheads together. "Riku," he said quietly. "This is the real thing."_

"_But—"_

"_I don't want Kairi-proxy Riku. I want Riku-Riku. Stop feeling guilty and let me kiss you."_

_A hard lump formed in Riku's throat, and he was very, very, very certain that the short-circuit in his brain from earlier had turned into a full-system meltdown. Sora smiled at the look on his face and pulled him close bodily. _

"_Fine. If you don't believe me, then let me show you." He started by pressing their lips together again, but this time, as the kiss deepened, Sora crawled into his lap, his weight comfortable despite how they were nearly the same hight. He felt the swirl of Sora's tongue against his own and he saw stars behind his eyelids. Reflexively, he reached up to encircle his hands around Sora's upper back, smiling. If he had known that this is how the kissing lesson was going to turn out, he would have suggested it a long time ago. He pulled Sora closer to him and licked his lips, preparing to show Sora just how much he had intentionally left out of Lesson two. Everything was right in the world, but he couldn't help but feel as though he should have been feeling guilty._

_As if mirroring his thoughts, he heard something clatter in the kitchen. He immediately jerked free of the kiss, despite Sora's attempts at pulling his face back. The kitchen door swung open and out walked Kairi, tray of cookies in her hands. She smiled, but Riku felt his stomach sink past the floor and into the worlds below._

"_Kairi!" he stuttered, attempting to push Sora off of him. A pout drew across his face, but he stayed otherwise very still, keeping Riku firmly in place._

"_Hi Riku," She said warmly. "Thanks again for letting me borrow your kitchen. Your oven is calibrated perfectly."_

"_What? When did I…?"_

_Between her legs, Pluto walked out of the kitchen, whining a bit at the sweet smell that the tray was emitting. She looked down at him and shook her head. "Pluto, you can't have any of these. These are for Wakka. I told you that I'd let you have some of the next batch." She smiled back up at Sora and Riku, seemingly oblivious that Sora was cheating on her._

_With Riku._

_On his couch._

_While she was standing there._

"_You'll have to excuse him," she said with a light laugh. "I tried to keep him in the kitchen, but this dog loves sweets more than any human I've ever met." She patted his head with one oven mitt sheathed hand before turning to head back into the kitchen._

"_Wait," Riku cried out, clearly in the mood for self-torture. "What are you…I mean, don't you…."_

_She stood there blinking at him as if he had just grown a second head. "What's the matter, Riku?"_

"_You don't mind that this is going on?" He made a vague gesture at the couch. Sora just rolled his eyes._

"_Mind that what's going on?"_

"_This!" He exclaimed, waving his arms. "This! Me, Sora…this!"_

_She blinked at him again, then a flush bloomed across her cheeks. "Oh my! I'm sorry, was I interrupting? I was just trying to keep Pluto out of the kitchen."_

_Riku's mouth hung open._

"_I'll go ahead and get him back in here so you can continue whatever it is you were doing. Pluto, that was very rude of you!"_

_Pluto looked only marginally ashamed, but more so interested in the tray of cookies in her hands._

"_But…but…but!" Riku stammered. "You don't mind that…we're…"_

"_Eh? Why would I mind what you do in the privacy of your own house? Pluto and I are going to go back to baking. Don't mind us!" She smiled again, holding the door open for the glum looking dog before heading back in herself, humming lightly. _

"_Can we get back to this now?"_

_Sora's voice shook him out of his shock. "I must be dreaming."_

"_Obviously," he said, leaning down to kiss him again._

"…_I guess…"Sora looked pleased him twice on the lips, two soft, playful pecks that left Riku a bit light headed, but all the more eager to continue. Riku's hand resumed their place at Sora's upper back, pulling him down so that their lips could meet properly._

"_Mmm. I wasn't kidding," he murmured._

"_What?"_

"_I wasn't kidding," Sora repeated. "About the dreaming part."_

_Riku sat up on the couch, Sora sitting squarely in his lap, tilting his head to the side as though Riku had just forgotten his own name. "What do you mean?"_

_Sora rolled his eyes and swatted his ear. "Don't tell me you can't hear that."_

"_Hear what?"_

"_Someone's banging on your door downstairs. Wake up already and answer it before whoever on the other side smashes it to pieces."_

_"Sora, what are you…"_

_Frowning, Sora grabbed his cheeks and turned his head to his front door. The wood was bowing inward, as if something immensely powerful was trying to get inside. "See what I mean?"_

"_But—"_

"_Go answer the door. We can continue this later…well, probably not, but that's not really important."_

"_Sora, you're not making any sense—"_

_All of a sudden, Riku's vision started to blur and the Sora on his lap began to dissipate into a cloud of fuzzy lines and swirling colors. Instantly the couch he was sitting on disappeared, hurling him into a cold and uncomfortable pit of blackness._

He awoke with a start, hands searching for something, _anything _to grab onto as his body careened off of the bed and landed with a deafening thud against the floor. He shook his head, startled but unhurt, bed sheets clinging to his body like the remains of some kind of mutated spider web. Groaning audibly, he realized he had been dreaming, and that the reality he was just forced back into was not nearly as clean and kempt as the one he had dreamed. He still had a dull ache in his chest from remembering how badly he had messed up, and a subtle ringing in his head that told him no matter how badly he wanted to forget everything, both he and Sora could not.

One thing was for certain though. That dream had certainly put a lot of things into focus for him—some parts more…_educational_ than others. What feelings he did harbor for Sora were not so easily going to be put to rest, and he could not continue on the way they were now. His heart wouldn't let him. It wouldn't be fair to him, but more importantly, it wouldn't be fair to Sora.

He rose off of the floor, attempting to put the sheets back into some kind of order before he remembered the last words of dream-Sora. His ears focused, and he did hear what sounded like frantic pounding on his door downstairs, mingling in with the agony of pained wood. He rolled his eyes. While he was thankful that he was back in reality, whoever it was that decided to wrestle him out of the vestiges of sleep had better have a good reason for knocking on his door at…

He looked at the clock.

Nine in the morning.

He sought to march down the stairs and give the person on the other side a proper dressing down, but made a quick realization that the only person who dared to wake him up so early was Sora.

Panic welled up inside him. If Sora was behind that door he had no idea how he was supposed to react. What could he say? What could he do? What if he came back asking for another kissing lesson?

Suddenly hopeful that he was still dreaming, he pinched himself hard on the arm. The sudden bloom of pain that was oh-so-fitting confirmed his fears. He was awake, and Sora was probably downstairs on the other side of the door. He supposed the ache of landing in a heap on his hardwood floors would have also been a good indication, but he was feeling particularly desperate this morning. Frowning, he scrounged up the last few ounces of his nerves which were threatening to be raw and flaming by the end of the afternoon, then walked down the staircase.

As he tiptoed down the stairs, he noticed that the knocking was getting a little softer, almost apologetic to the door. Unsure of what to think, he took a deep breath, hoping to build up some invisible threads of courage, and then he opened it just a crack.

As expected, Sora was standing there, hands in his pockets looking at the floor as though he was expecting to be lashed. He looked up as Riku peered behind wood and shielded his eyes from the bright yet cloudy sky.

"Hi," he said tentatively. "Did I wake you?"

Riku sighed and rubbed his face. "Uh, it's not a big deal."

"Sorry, I know I keep bothering you when it's early. I did wait until nine though."

"It's uh…it's really not a big deal."

"…Right." He was quiet, eyes glued to the ground, feet shuffling at the wood. Riku quirked an eyebrow as he considered what to do next. It looked as though he and Sora were slowly but surely becoming awkward, evidence of which was presented when he clearly did not know what to say. Though he doubted that Sora came all the way over to his house merely to stand and toe his porch like some kind of wounded animal, he couldn't help but be thankful for the silence. It meant that whatever Sora had come to say was going to stay unsaid, and that he could go on pretending that the elephant on the Island would continue to stay silent.

But then Sora looked up at him, his foot stopping its slow tap along the porch floorboards. The elephant was preparing to make itself known.

"So, I was doing some thinking." He blinked, as if he wasn't sure where to go from there, hoping that Riku would be able to fill in the gaps. Unfortunately for him, that hope was doomed from the start, and he could tell by the very blank look Riku gave him, partly because he _wasn't_ sure of what to say, and partly because he was concentrating on not just slamming the door shut and running back upstairs to hide in the covers. Sora sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Do you mind if I come in?" he chuckled. "I'll let you shower first if you need to."

Riku nodded and scooted aside as Sora slipped past, silently hoping that the pinch didn't actually happen, that he hadn't just fallen out of his bed, and that he was still snug and warm underneath his covers in dreamland.

"Can I wait here on your couch?"

"Um, yeah. Go ahead. I'll only be a minute." He walked quickly up the stairs, and Sora sat down heavily on the couch. He had loosely constructed a game plan out that morning and had yet to figure out all of the details, but it was the only solution that he could think of to keep both Riku, and Kairi happy. It may tax Sora himself for a while, but he was fine with it as long as it meant he could keep both of his favorite people by his side. He swallowed as he thought about it, knowing that there was no turning back from this after he started.

He heard the shower squeak off from upstairs and his blood pumped a little faster and a little colder in his veins. He was about to rescue his friendship with Riku, and save his relationship with Kairi in one fell swoop.

Riku came back down the stairs a short while later smelling like a spring garden but facially expressing something completely opposite. He looked old, gray, and as if he would rather be anywhere else in the world except for his own living room, and Sora couldn't blame him.

As Riku landed on the ground, eyes meeting his, Sora gulped, a new sense of resolve filling him. He had to make things right. He had to keep Riku.

"What can I do for you?" Riku asked quietly. He shook his head a moment later, color draining from his face. "Wait, before I ask that, I should apologize for what happened yesterday. I got a little carried away. I'm sorry."

Sora shook his head, standing and balling his fists. "You don't have to apologize for that. It's okay. I think I get what's going on." The look he received in return was utter horror, so he quickly continued. "But like I said earlier, I was doing a lot of thinking."

"Which is usually dangerous…"

"It's not dangerous this time…I don't think."

Riku looked at him with a mixture interest and reluctance. "Okay…"

"I've decided," A deep breath, a racing heart.

"You've decided?"

"I've decided to date you."

* * *

><p>Thank you for reading. Please review!<p> 


	5. Sensibility

Hello! Sorry for the delay in this chapter. The latter half of this story was given another tremendous overhaul, and I wanted to make sure everything made sense before I posted this. Updates should be timelier from now on…maybe. Thank you again for reading. On with chapter 5!

* * *

><p>Riku didn't say anything, and for a moment, Sora thought he was broken.<p>

_Good_ Sora thought, his fists clenched, his jaw firm. Clearly, Riku was so happy at the suggestion that he was unable to express his joy. He was further convinced of this when Riku blinked a total of two times, an obvious affirmation to his declaration. If he could somehow manage dating Riku and Kairi simultaneously, he could maintain both relationships without making one friend feel neglected, provided of course that Kairi didn't find out.

Riku was still silent, so Sora just stood and appreciated it. People really needed to start giving him credit. Every once in a while, he could produce an idea that wasn't too shabby.

Riku's mouth stretched horizontally in a grim, somewhat sour expression, that looked more like he was ill than elated, but Sora dismissed it altogether, as Riku was very rarely in check with his own emotions anyway.

Finally though, his mouth opened, and with it, he vocalized a very quiet "_What?"_

Sora smiled, pleased that his decision had such an impact. "I said that I want to date you. You, me, dating."

Riku was quiet again.

At this, Sora became just a bit worried. Riku's complexion was now nearly the same color as his hair. "Are you okay?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I was hoping that I misheard you."

"Misheard me?"

Riku shook his head. "Sora, did you hear yourself?"

"Of course I did."

"So then you see the problem here?"

"No. There is no problem. I want to date you. It's as simple as that."

Riku stared at him silently for another collection of minutes, and it began to make him feel uncomfortable. Before he had come over, the decision seemed perfect. He wasn't sure where all of the doubt was coming from. He folded his arms, trying to hide his concerns, though. If Riku sensed that he wanted to back out now, he could go ahead and kiss their friendship goodbye. "Well, what do you say?"

Riku seemed to snap out of the trance he had fallen into, and his eyebrows arched downward. "I would think that the answer is obvious."

"Great! So, for our first date, I think we should—"

"No!" Riku put his hand to his forehead and let out a groan to end all groans. "No, the answer isn't yes!"

"What?"

"Sora, I can't date you!"

"Why?"

"What do you mean _why_?"

It was Sora's turn to frown, a twinge of anger nipping at him. "I don't know, it seems like a pretty simple question."

Riku balled his fists. "You seriously can't figure it out?"

Sora returned the gesture, almost challenging. "From what I see, you're the only one with a problem with it, so why don't you go ahead and explain!"

Riku opened his mouth to do so, but from the looks of things, words were refusing to come out, so he stood there gaping like a fish. A few broken sentences tumbled out, but nothing definitive. "Well, for starters, it's just…weird!"

"Okay, Riku. Go ahead and tell me why this is such a bad idea."

Riku thought for a moment, flashes of his dream making his stomach unsettle. Sure, he knew that the Riku-Sora duo could not exist as it once had, mainly because his emotions would no longer let him—and yesterday's little incident just proved that his body wouldn't let him either—but this was not the way he had planned on handling it…not that he really had a plan to offer instead. All he knew was that deep down somewhere, this was wrong on so many levels that he didn't even know where to begin. Then the thought occurred to him. It would make admittedly morbid sense if _he_, Riku was offering to date Sora, maybe arranging some elaborate plan to steal him off to the worlds beyond to some hidden estate somewhere to live out their lives alone—he paused his mental tangent to appreciate just how good that prospect sounded…

He shook his head, continuing his thoughts. It would make sense if Riku was offering to date Sora, but it was Sora standing in his living room making the request, as if he was insulted that RIku was turning down his feelings. Something didn't add up. He looked at Sora across the room, his resolve looking every bit as solid as a stone wall. "Sora, _why_ do you want to date _me?"_

Sora nodded, as if expecting this question. "Because I love you, Riku."

The answer sounded off, even to Riku but he couldn't help but feel his heart do something fluttery in his chest. "No, you don't."

"Of course I do."

Riku sighed and rubbed his forehead again. "Sora, what are you doing?"

Sora seemed to think for a second, then sighed. "Okay, look Riku. I'm just going to be honest for a second. Permission?"

"Granted."

"We'd both be in really, really badly hidden denial if we didn't admit that something between us is different, right?"

"…That sounds fair."

"Despite how things may be a little different from both of our perspectives, the bottom line is that we really care about each other, right?"

"Right."

"I'm not going to make you admit anything to me, but I do love you Riku." When he said this, he exuded a genuineness that Riku couldn't ignore. His mouth went dry, and he couldn't help but feel pangs of feelings he had not allowed himself to feel…ever. He frowned, shaking them away. No matter what, he could not allow them to cloud his judgment. Dating Sora was not the answer, no matter how much Sora insisted.

"But Sora, that doesn't mean—"

"Bah, you're really stubborn!" Sora said stomping his foot. "If I had half of your stubbornness I would be trying to make the ocean turn into rocks by now! Think of it like this," he tried again, impatience dripping off of him like the panic coursing through Riku's veins. Riku was worried that what he was about to say next wouldn't make any sense…or worse, that it _would._

"Okay, have you ever been to the zoo?"

"…What?"

"Have you ever been to the zoo? Come on, we're wasting time."

"Okay, yes. I've been to the zoo."

"Good. If you go past the monkeys and past that weird drink station that never actually has any drinks, you run right into the giant enclosure with all the bamboo and trees for the pandas."

"…okay…"

"Picture the panda, Riku."

"Pictured."

"Good. Remember it. That's you."

"I'm a panda?"

"It's for the purpose of my brilliant analogy. Now shut up and let me finish."

"Ugh…okay."

"Right. Now, if you continue on the path there's another big habitat with a whole lot of trees. It's on the side of the path with the aviary in case you were wondering. Inside is where they keep the red panda. That's me."

"Not seeing where you're going with this…"

"Hang on! Now, the panda and the red panda's relationship represents our feelings. Sure, the panda and the red panda are different colors and sizes. They aren't the same species, but they're both in the zoo, and they're both bears. It doesn't matter that they're slightly different. They both want the same thing: to eat, sleep and be bears."

"…Red pandas aren't bea—"

"Whatever! I'm making a point!" Sora said with exasperation. "Love is love. I may not love you _exactly_ the same way that you love me, but it doesn't really matter as long as we're both in it for the same thing. We want to make each other happy. It's the only thing that will save our friendship."

"Let me get this straight," Riku said slowly, weary of Sora's venomous expression. "You want to date me so that I can love you and save our friendship?"

"You don't have to put it like that, but yes."

Riku couldn't help but feel that, as much as he hated to admit it, it made sense. Even if Sora dated him, it would just like the kissing lesson. It didn't have to mean anything to both—

He shook his head. He could not allow himself to break. No matter how tantalizing the prospect sounded, he could not give in. It was wrong. He knew it was. He knew that somewhere, for some reason that he shouldn't agree to this. It would be fantastic if that reason could present itself, though.

He wracked his brain for the reason he knew just had yet to be named. All sorts of badness would result from this, their friendship breaking apart being the least of their worries. He knew it. Deep down though, he couldn't deny that he wanted…

_The dream_, he mentally scolded himself, trying to distract himself from things he did not want to admit. Maybe the dream held more clues as to why. It had been somewhat helpful spelling things out for him earlier. Maybe it would be helpful again now. He skimmed through what he remembered, taking care to breeze extra swiftly over the kissing parts, when he suddenly remembered who had walked through his kitchen doors. Grinning, he pointed at Sora accusingly. It was one thing to tamper with their own friendship, but hurting Kairi's feelings? That was a low neither of them were willing to stoop too, he was sure.

"Sora, you can't date me. You'd be cheating on Kairi."

Sora waved him away as if he was reporting old news. "Oh please. Don't you think I've already thought of that?"

Riku dropped his fingers, feeling battle fatigue creep into his bones. He swallowed dryly and tried not to show it. "Clearly not, or else you wouldn't be in here."

Sora shook his head. When he had first come up the idea, he had felt guilty and almost dropped it on the spot. Then he rationalized that if his heart wasn't really romantically attracted to Riku, then it technically didn't count, especially since his goal was to fix their friendship. He was sure that Kairi would understand. "This whole thing is to protect the you and me that the universe knows is meant to exist. Kairi would understand." A smug smile spread across his face. He was winning, and the exhausted look on Riku's face was proving it. All he had to do was press a little harder, and Riku would submit, rendering him victorious and Riku wallowing in defeat until he finally realized that he was winning for the both of them.

Riku looked like he was swaying on his feet, struggling to grasp for straws. A touch of stubbornness was evident, but that would be easy enough to break, Sora decided. "Look Riku," Sora said crossing the distance between them and jabbing him in the chest with his finger. "I do love you. Not quite how you love me, but close enough. In case you haven't notice, I'd be willing to do a lot for you. I'd risk damage to my mind and body, even if that only meant you could walk down the street everyday without tripping. You're my best friend, Riku and you fall pretty high on my list of favorite things. You'd be number one if you weren't being such a jerk."

Riku snorted, rubbing the spot on his chest that Sora had been jabbing, dark circles forming underneath his eyes. "I'm not being a jerk. I'm being reasonable. You can't force yourself to date me. How can you possibly think that would make me happy?"

"Did kissing me make you happy?"

That question struck Riku to the very core. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't hide it from his face, and judging by the smug smile that spread across Sora's face, he had found a foot hold.

"That's not fair."

"Doesn't matter," Sora retorted, the grin spreading. "You were happy kissing me even thought you thought it wasn't real. Why is this any different? Except, this time I know about it. It worked then, and it can work now."

Riku was silent, and Sora took this as an opportunity to go ahead and make things official before Riku had the opportunity to make up more points to refute him. Gingerly grabbing his hand, he reached up and pecked Riku on the cheek. It felt strange, not like kissing Kairi, or even like kissing a friend. All he knew was that it didn't feel wrong, and as long as his heart was in the right place, things were destined to turn out okay.

Or so he thought. Riku looked broken again, so he patted him on the shoulder and led him to the couch. Riku sat, but he was silent, his eyes glazed over as though he was looking at the stars swirling around on his ceiling. Sora ignored him. He'd snap out of it soon enough and realize just how good of an idea this was in due time.

"Okay, what should we do first?" Sora asked with a grin, still holding his hand.

"I can't believe this is happening. It's such a bad idea…"

"Have breakfast? That sounds like a good idea to me, too!" As if leading along a confused puppy, he all but dragged Riku into his kitchen, where he deposited him at the counter.

"Okay, you just sit right there and I'll make us something delicious."

Riku was still unresponsive, so Sora took it upon himself to rummage through the cupboards for something substantial. He was partly relieved that Riku's cabinets were all but bare for two reasons. Firstly, he didn't have energy to be creative this early in the morning. Secondly because he wasn't sure he would be able to cook anything even if he did the resources to do so. He scratched his head at a box of some kind of grain before setting it back into the cabinet. Whatever that was, it looked far beyond its expiration date and not fit for human consumption.

When he headed over to the refrigerator, Riku seemed to snap out of his trance and shifted his eyes in Sora's direction. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I was looking for food, but you're pretty much living in a barren waste land. How do you _eat?"_

Riku shook his head and removed himself from his seated position back at the bar stool. He himself was not even marginally hungry, and the thought of putting anything in his stomach seemed downright revolting, but he thought that maybe cooking would help him clear his mind. "Move," he muttered. "If you cook anything you're likely to kill us both."

"I resent that. I can cook."

"The jury's out on that one. They're still throwing up."

Sora pouted and exchanged places with him, though he was pleased that Riku seemed to be snapping back into reality since he was so willing to offer such plentiful sarcasm. Sora retained the pout though, and crossed his arms as Riku opened the refrigerator and pulled out a few eggs.

"What are you making?"

"No idea."

"Well, don't you think you should have one before you start cooking?"

Riku sent him a death glare, and he closed his mouth, and crossed his fingers, looking for something else to do.

He watched Riku ponder the eggs for a moment, and a thought occurred to him. Grinning, he slipped away from the counter and linked his arm with Riku's. The grin on his face widened as he felt him stiffen.

"Do you mind?" Was the muttered reply.

"Not at all."

"It's a little hard for me to cook with you clamped to my arm like some kind of poorly fitting sweater."

"I'm just making this real for you."

"Well, you can make it real for me over there." He gestured with his head back to the counter, but if anything, Sora held onto his arm even tighter. He rolled his eyes. "You're serious?"

"Everything I do is serious."

Riku was silent, then let out a sharp groan and cracked the eggs into the pan as best as he could with one hand, frowning as he realized that he would have to adjust the pan by knocking the handle with his hip. "…Sora, really…"

"Keep going. I like watching you cook. You're good at it." As if to illustrate this, he pointed at the egg in the pan. "Look, the yolk's still whole, just like the sun."

"This would be a lot easier if you weren't over here pursuing a relationship that's not going to work."

"It would also be a lot easier if you'd stop talking and just accept it. Once I convince you, I can give you more rope."

Riku rolled his eyes again and cracked in the second egg. He paused with the shell in his hand, sighing as Sora's hair tickled his elbow. "…Can I throw these away and get the salt, or are you going to be my ball and chain throughout the entire process?"

Sora nudged him towards the trash can. "I'm much more convenient than a ball and chain. Prettier, too. Walk."

Riku reluctantly did as instructed, trudging around the kitchen to retrieve the salt and half hoping that his arm would magically fall off and that Sora would slide off…all the way out the door and back to Kairi.

He did not need this kind of energy this morning.

It was too tempting, and _that _was starting to bother him.

As he struggled to move around the kitchen, finishing the eggs and starting the toast, he found that he and Sora had found a sort of natural rhythm. Sure, it was still unbelievably inconvenient and uncomfortable, and Sora was completely in the way, but they never tripped over each other's feet, and at least Sora wasn't dragging his shoulder down like he half expected it to. He was surprised that he even managed to cut up the cantaloupe without whacking his fingers off in the process. Sora's grip had relented a bit in the presence of the knife, but he still loosely held onto his bicep, ready to resume his former death grip once the fruit had successfully been divided.

When he finished, Sora resumed his position as expected and squeezed. "Are you done yet?"

"If you don't mind an egg and charred toast for breakfast, then yes."

"Awesome! I'll get the plates and glasses. I'm releasing you for the time being, but if you try to run away, I'll hunt you down like a tracking missile." To illustrate he pointed his finger at Riku's forehead and muttered a quiet "bang." Riku responded by shaking his head. He shouldn't have to be the one trying to run away out of his own house. He kept the thought to himself and retrieved the orange juice from the refrigerator, filling the glasses Sora laid out on the table. The toast was placed on the plates and the eggs and fruit followed, Riku glumly going through the process as Sora nearly chirped at the prospect of having a hot breakfast.

Riku made a motion to sit down, but Sora loudly cleared his throat. He looked up beneath silver bangs and saw that Sora was staring down at him with crossed arms.

"What?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

Riku surveyed his surroundings. Other than a giant pit that he could jump into and hide in forever, he didn't think he was missing any special breakfast equipment. "No."

Sora tapped his foot and inclined his head towards the chair at the opposite side of the table.

"You can't be serious…"

"This is a relationship, Riku. I expect to be treated with common courtesy."

"But—"

"Sometimes it's easier if you stop resisting the process. If you want to make your life easier, just agree with me we can both eat, and move forward. Or we can just sit here and argue about it until I win. The choice is yours."

Riku's mouth slid open and he was pretty sure that whatever pride within him just died. "I can't believe you…" Still though, he stood from his position, crossed the distance between then and pulled out the chair.

A very pleased Sora sat down and scooted himself in. "Thank you. Now, was that so hard?"

"You have no idea."

Sora ignored him and plunged a fork into his eggs and toast, the yolk pooling pleasingly across the crust. As the food cleared his lips, his face brightened, and he chewed gleefully. "This is fantastic!"

"Glad you like it," Riku said, noncommittally lifting a fork to his own mouth. The sooner breakfast was over, the sooner he could go back to his room and mope about how his life had just gone so horribly wrong.

"I mean it," Sora said with his cheeks full. "You've really outdone yourself, honey!"

Riku choked as the eggs in his mouth slid down his wind pipe. He beat his chest a few times and gulped down two large swallows of orange juice before staring incredulously at Sora. "_What_ did you call me?"

"Honey. It's a term of endearment."

"I know what it _means._"

"Then why did you as—"

"You are _not_ allowed to call me honey. It's too weird."

"How is it weird? People who are in love do it all the time."

Riku snorted. "Please. Is that something you and Kairi do?"

"Well, no."

"Then _why_ would you think that I would want something as ridiculous as a pet name?"

"Because," Sora said gesturing to him with a fork dripping with egg yolk, "you aren't Kairi and furthermore, you're not willingly volunteering any clues as to what you want out of this relationship."

Riku opened his mouth, but Sora cut him off. "—Other than not wanting to be in it at all. Until you submit, I'm calling you 'honey.'"

"Fine, then I get to call you 'sweetie-pie.'"

"What? No, that sounds stupid!"

Riku looked at him pointedly, and a grim expression crossed Sora's face. "Pick something better."

"No. Sweetie-pie it is. Do you like your eggs, sweetie-pie? Should I pour you more orange juice, sweetie-pie? How's the cantaloupe? Is it sweet enough for you, sweetie-pie—"

"Fine! I won't call you 'honey' anymore…unless it's a special occasion."

"Same here."

Sora pouted, but a small, barely detectible smile cracked on Riku's face, and he shook his head. Part of it was smugness from winning, but he knew that some of it was legitimate mirth. Sora couldn't help but smile to himself as well. He cleaned his plate and brushed the crumbs off of his lips, contemplating what he, as a good new boyfriend should suggest they do next.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! I very much appreciate feedback, so please review!<p> 


	6. The Date

Thank you for coming back for chapter 6. Er...I don't have anything special to say about it, lest I ruin things, so I'll just shut up and let you read. ^^

* * *

><p>"You're coming with me."<p>

"Do I have an option here, or is this a demand?"

"I would think it'd be obvious at this point, Riku."

Riku sighed, closing his eyes and blowing a stream of air towards the ceiling. After breakfast, he had insisted on going back to his room and going back to sleep, preferably for the rest of eternity, but his will was not his own anymore. Sora had leapt from the table shortly after their forced breakfast, proclaiming to everyone within earshot—which, thankfully, only included Riku—that he had an idea for their first date. The grim expression he wasn't even trying to contain crossed his face again, but as every other time, Sora ignored it, and was yet again clinging to his arm.

"But—"

"Done listening to you. Put on your shoes so we can get out of here."

Riku stared glumly at where his shoes were sitting in front of his door, wanting nothing more than to be left in solitude to mope, but he obeyed; Sora's vice grip directing him all the way. As he slipped on his shoes, Sora stood behind him, arms crossed with a grin plastered across his face. Whatever slim hope he held onto that this would burn out quickly had vanished. The thought of spending the rest of his life in a strangely forced one-sided relationship with Sora was starting to become a very real possibility.

Sora tugged on his arm and he was pulled from his thoughts, and glumly followed him outside, off the porch and down towards the beach.

"Okay sweetheart, we're going to go on our first date. Are you excited?"

"What did I tell you about the pet names?"

"I was just giving it a try, just in case you liked it more than 'honey.'"

"I think I'd like it better if you stopped talking to me."

"Well, that wouldn't make us a very good couple, now would it?"

Riku groaned. "Please stop saying that. Especially outside." He looked over his shoulder. Few people were out this early in the morning; the guilt-free laziness of summer subduing nearly everyone into a glorious late-morning slumber. Riku was glad for this. The last thing he needed was for other people to find out about this. He could imagine it now…he wasn't a particularly social person anyway, and as soon as people got wind of _this_ little story, the sooner he could kiss any and all hope of being a functional member of society goodbye.

Home-wreckers weren't exactly looked upon pleasantly, and as far as all of his friends and acquaintances would be concerned, he was definitely playing the part of the other _man,_ as it were.

Sora ignored him and hugged his arm tighter, dragging him down the beach to an unknown location that Riku could only silently wish was not too public.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yes. That's why I ask—"

"Hush, or I'll force you to make out with me in public."

Riku's moth closed abruptly, and a Sora grinned in satisfaction, taking control of the walk yet again. The day was already turning out to be rather productive and it had barely dipped into the afternoon. He felt a bit bad that Riku was finding the whole experience so miserable, but he was sure, deep down past the protests and the growls, that somewhere he was appreciative. Yanking his arm a bit, he steered the two of them past the beach and onto the pier.

The pier itself was a charming little line of vendors, shops and kiosks, all of which were still in the early stages of getting prepared. In recent years it had become more of a knick-knack surplus as opposed to a place to by anything of any real use, but Sora, Riku and Kairi had often visited it together on uneventful afternoons on the whim of Sora to add body to his collection of _stuff. _Riku himself would never venture out to the pier alone merely to purchase things, but just as he was abruptly forced into a relationship, he found himself walking down the wooden planks of the pier in the death-grip of Sora, muttering all the while.

As they passed a few particularly festive tables selling handkerchiefs and shell sculptures, Sora licked his lips. He knew that something would catch his eye eventually, and when it did, it was going to be brilliant. Just as the thought crossed his mind however, he nearly passed the table of a small outdoor vendor, the operator of which had barely finished setting out his supplies. Eager to gain some patronage, the stout man grinned and patted the red clothed table. "Welcome, welcome. Like anything you see this afternoon?"

Riku looked like he had recently contracted some kind of violent sickness, but Sora was as pleased as could be. His eyes scanned the table of wares, and landed on what he deemed as the fabric equivalent of gold. Yanking Riku's arm again, he turned and nearly shouted "Should I buy us a commemorative gift?"

"Only if it's a mausoleum."

"I was thinking something like matching socks."

"I'll pass."

"Great!" Sora grinned, pulling out his wallet, but snatching up Riku's arm again before he could wander off. "We'll take two pairs of those." He pointed to two pairs of what Riku could only describe as the world's most hideous pair of watermelon eyesores suited for a six year old's dress-up doll, and slapped the munny on the table.

The vendor gave them an odd look before handing Sora the purchase, and counted the money. "Uh, sure. There you are. I hope you…uh…enjoy."

Riku looked close to vomiting on the sidewalk, and spared a pitying glance at the vendor while Sora admired the purchase. "I lost a bet," he whispered, garnering him a slow nod from the vendor, and a sharp tug on his arm from Sora. "Hmph," he muttered, dragging him away. "I'm not a bet. A prize maybe, but not a bet!"

Riku shrugged glumly, thankful that while he may have just lost all of his dignity, at the very least it was only in front of one person. Sora hummed as they walked oblivious of it all, but Riku had half a mind to think that he was actually _enjoying_ his pain.

"Can we please stop now?"

"No. I have one more stop to make before I take you to our date."

"You mean _this_ isn't it?" Riku moaned, to which Sora shook his head, supplying him with a look of pure outrage.

"Of course this isn't it! What kind of lover would I be if I just bought you a pair of socks and ended it?"

Riku slapped hand over Sora's mouth and watched as two kids trotted by, one dragging a doll, the other holding a balloon. They paused to stare questioningly at the two of them, but quickly dashed away, amused by something else in the distance. When the two had passed, Riku removed his hand and hissed furiously in Sora's face. "We are _not_ lovers! Stop saying things like that!"

Sora shrugged, indifferent. "Whatever. Lovers, boyfriends, romantic partners…it all means the same thing."

"Yes, but none of those terms apply to _us._ Hurry up with this crazy scheme of your so that I can go home!"

Sora batted his eyelashes, but made no indication of hurrying, as he resumed his vice-grip on Riku's arm and dragged him to a slightly more organized vending cart, this time stocked with various videos and electronics.

Riku rolled his eyes, fearing for where this was going.

The vendor was a short woman with reddish hair, wearing a long green dress. Riku could tell she was playing the part of a person with a far less income, and judging by the box of paper bills she had rolled up and hidden not so inconspicuously behind her, he was right. Frowning, he glanced at her wares, a collection of movies that were only slightly reduced from what he knew he could by in a standard store. He had seen them cheaper elsewhere and was about to share the observation with Sora, but Sora was already striking up a conversation.

"Hi ma'am. I'm looking for a movie that me and my honey-bun can watch together."

The woman lifted a dark eyebrow. "Ah, you and eh…" she tilted her head in Riku's direction, and Sora chuckled.

Outrage coursed through Riku and he had to consciously remind himself that punching Sora could get him thrown in jail. "Sora! What are you—"

Sora ignored him and kept talking, unable to hide a sneer. "What makes you think I'm talking about Riku?" He indicated Riku by shoving him roughly in the shoulder. "I'm referring to someone who loves being addressed to by pet names, which are just a display of love and affection. Riku's sour and mean."

The woman nodded slowly. "Okay…well, what kind of video is your uh…honey-bun interested in?"

"Hmmm," Sora tapped his chin in mock thought, rolling his eyes skyward. "Let's see…my snookums is too grouchy for a romance, and too rigid to enjoy a comedy." He rolled his eyes all the way back down to Riku and smiled. "I don't know. Riku here knows my honey-dumpling best, so maybe he should answer. After all, snicker-doodle and I just started dating this morning."

"How many times does 'Snookums' have to tell you that he hates pet names?"

"Because deep down my cuddle-wuddle-bubble-sugar-booger-snooger-breath loves them! Now what kind of movie would ookum-snookum-puppy-wuppy-love cake like?"

Riku felt very much like he wanted to fall into a hole. Clearing his throat, he glared back and hissed, "Well, I don't know. Maybe if your 'ookum-snookum' didn't feel so forced into a relationship that is such an unfathomably bad idea, picking out a movie wouldn't be so hard for you."

"Well maybe if my lovely-lotus-fluff weren't such a jerk all the time and just went with my good intentions once in a while, it might not be so forced, now would it?"

The woman looked down at the two of them, unsure of what to say. "Well, er…"

"Forget it," Riku said crossing his arms, glaring daggers at Sora. "Your 'Lotus-fluff' would very much like to go back home and be left in solitude."

"Too bad my love-lump doesn't have a choice in the matter, because us dating is a good idea."

"No, it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

Riku growled, and Sora tilted his head back daring him for a challenge. A collection of seconds passed and when the woman was fairly certain the two of them were going to start throwing punches, she snapped her fingers.

"Ah, gentlemen!" She said at last, rousing the two of them from their furious exchange. "I believe I understand what's going on. Perhaps the three of you, that is you," she indicated Sora, "your eh... 'love-lump' and you, Riku, should sit down and watch an action movie together."

Sora's eyes lit up, but Riku's darkened.

"Yes," continued the woman, wary of Riku's facial expression. "An action movie. I can tell that the three of you have a little tension, and the best way to release your anger is to do so vicariously through an action movie." She spread her arms out to reveal the selection at the corner of the table. "Obviously punching each other is not a solution, so if you all sat down and felt your emotions through flipping cars, firing guns and explosions, you'll have calmed down enough to talk out your differences." She gave a smile that indicated to Riku that she had made up the speech on the spot, but Sora nodded enthusiastically.

"That sounds perfect," he said clasping his hands together. "My sprinkle-dinkle cupcake is quite rough around the edges anyway and loves that kind of thing. An action movie is perfect. Wouldn't you agree, Riku?"

Riku regarded Sora with a dismissive snort.

"Thought so. How much?"

Riku choose not to be a part of the negotiation process and instead folded his arms and looked away in the distance toward his house. He longed to go back, but he knew as long as he was being held prisoner, he wouldn't be able to even slip back there undetected. Sighing, he waited for Sora to finish the transaction, and as Sora gleefully tucked the movie under his arm, Riku inwardly groaned, daring not to think of what was to come.

The rest of the outing continued on in much the same fashion, Sora dragging Riku about, and Riku following unwillingly behind. Though Riku was grateful that Sora's shopping whim seemed to have run its course, he couldn't help but feel the slightest bit anxious as his friend-lover-proxy steered them back down the pier and back into town.

"Sit," Sora commanded, once the two of them arrived at Sora's house, the state of which being remarkably cleaner than what Riku had remembered. He noted that the pillows were neatly in place and the articles of clothing that had usually been strewn about the arms and legs of furniture were nowhere to be found. The scattering of magazines on the table and open closets did remind Riku of where he was, but otherwise, the whole house seemed to reek of feminine charm. He wrinkled his nose. This must have been Kairi's doing.

"Riku, did you hear me?" Sora snapped, waving his hand in Riku's face. Riku grimaced and grabbed the appendage, pushing it away. "Yes, yes, I heard you. Taking a seat on the couch, he sat as far against the arm rest as he possibly could. Sora rolled his eyes and wedged himself between Riku and the arm chair, pleased that unless Riku fancied him sitting on his lap, he would have to movie to accommodate him.

"Really?"

"Really," Sora said with finality. "Now, I'm going to get up and make popcorn, but before I leave, I need two things from you."

"What?"

"Number one, guarantee that you aren't going to move from this spot. Number two, put these on."

The socks that Riku had nearly forgotten were tossed into his lap, and Sora stared at him pointedly, his eyebrows lifting up and down.

"No way. I refuse to wear these. They're hideous…and for little girls."

"Nonsense," Sora replied, pulling out his own pair of socks and slipping them onto his feet. "They're not for little girls. They're couple socks for Sora and Riku. Besides, I haven't broken you down yet, so no matter what you say, it doesn't matter." He stared happily down at his feet, the bright pinkish red of the fruit stitched into the material burning into Riku's eyes. "Look, they're cute."

"That's precisely the problem."

"No, the problem is that we aren't matching." He shoved Riku lightly with his shoulder and pouted, batting his eyelashes sweetly. "Please? It would mean a lot to me if you'd just put on the socks. What harm could it do?"

"Ask my dignity, pride, and self-esteem."

"No. Your dignity clouds your reason, your pride is what got us into this mess in the first place, and I have enough self esteem for the both of us. Now put on the socks before I get back with the popcorn…_dearest._" He punctuated his statement by giving Riku a quick peck on the cheek—which he wiped off—and scampered into the kitchen.

Riku sighed, holding the socks in his hands. _Watermelon_…of all things. The socks themselves were designed to look like freshly cut slices of watermelon, bright and colorful, and far too pink for his liking. He sighed, pulling the socks on, watching in distaste as the fruit morphed and distorted around his feet. He hadn't remembered a time in his life when he was ever so obedient before, yet here he was, sitting in Sora's living room, ugly-sock clad, and waiting patiently for his return. It was uncomfortable, degrading, and humiliating. Somewhere in the far reaches of his brain he was sure there was an explanation for why he was allowing himself to be put through all of this self torture.

Maybe it was because Sora was more persuasive than he looked.

Maybe it was because he secretly _liked_ all of this misguided attention.

Maybe it was because deep down, he really wanted all of this to be real.

Sora marched back into the living room with a bowl in one hand, and a dozen pieces of popcorn in the other. Wasting no time, he quickly wedged himself between Riku and the arm of the couch, spilling popcorn in the process, but not looking the least bit interested in cleaning it up. He lifted his eyebrows in glee, noticing that Riku was indeed wearing the socks, even if he didn't look happy about it.

"They look awesome! I knew these were a good purchase!" He propped his own feet up on the coffee table, urging Riku not-so-gently to do the same. "Hah! We match!"

"Yes, we both look six." Riku added, garnering him immediate dismissal.

"No, we look like we're in love. This is so perfect I don't even know what to say!"

"How about 'Okay, Riku. I've tortured you enough. You can go back home and forget that any of this ever happened, and I will too. Oh, and you were right about this being a bad idea. Somehow I'll make it up to you.'"

Sora snorted. "That doesn't even sound like me. Besides how can I make something up to you if you're forcing me to forget about it?"

"Yo—"

"Exactly. Now, we're going to watch a movie and cuddle in the dark. Don't even bother saying anything because I already know how excited you are." He reached over and pinched Riku's cheek before leaping off the couch to put the movie into the DVD player. He smiled, sat back down, placing the bowl of popcorn in his lap, and Riku's arm around his shoulder.

As the movie began, Riku could tell it was going to be some horribly outlined, unrealistic action movie, and quite honestly, he was excited about it. The female vendor who had sold the video to the both of them must have been some kind of psychic, because he immediately felt better.

Then he felt his arm around Sora's bony shoulders, and Sora's body wriggling against his chest, and all of it fell apart.

Riku couldn't help himself. He spared a glance over at Sora who was throwing popcorn into his mouth like his life depended on it, all the while clenching their hands together in such a way that might have worried Riku about circulation, if he wasn't distracted. The pale light from the T.V. reflected off of his face just so, and maybe, possibly, _definitely_, made the angles of his face look more pronounced, and strong. He took in Sora's face for a long minute, watching his expressions change at the actions of the movie, not caring himself what was going on anymore. All that mattered, was that their hands were clenched together, that they were comfortably entangled on the couch, and that everything was right in their perfectly fake relationship.

He sighed, unable to ignore the little bubble of emotion welling up inside him. It was a desperate, sad, pathetic hope he knew, but he wanted it none the less, possibly more than he wanted to…

Sora looked up at him suddenly, popcorn kernels hanging out of his mouth, eyebrows pushed together as though he had just been startled awake. "What?" he muttered incoherently, shattering the image Riku was just appreciating.

"Nothing," Riku replied, embarrassed that he was caught, but deeply amused at the expression on his face. "And don't talk with your mouth full. You're getting popcorn all over the place."

Sora settled back into the cushions of the couch, grumbling something about how Riku was his boyfriend, not his mother, then surprised him by gripping the back of his head and forcing his ear down against his shoulder.

"Ow!"

"Keep your head here. It's romantic."

"No way!"

Sora's arm was firm despite Riku's protests, and remained so until Riku stopped resisting, at which point, he offered two affectionate pats to his forehead. "Good boy."

"You're unbe—"

"Shh!" Sora waved him away and again engrossed himself in the movie. If he even felt Riku's muscles tense his hand went right back to the side of his head until he stilled, and Riku finally realized that escape was fruitless. He sighed against the nape of Sora's neck and remained still, flustered at his own helplessness, but all the same appreciative. Even if it was all fake, he did enjoy the two of them together like this, pretending it was real inside.

Throughout the course of the movie, bright bursts of violence and terse dialogue shuffled in and out of Riku's awareness. While he appreciated action as much as the next person, his position was distracting, and Sora was forcing him to be so close that he was practically breathing on his neck. Every now and then he spared a glance toward Sora, whose eyes never strayed from the television. Riku was careful this time to keep from being caught, only allowing himself a few seconds to look. He knew getting wrapped up in this would only cause more grief in the long run, but he couldn't help the pangs of yearning in his chest. Frowning with disgusted with himself, he allowed one more side glance before banning himself from looking at Sora again for the rest of the movie.

The movie ended with some explosion that was far too dramatic to be realistic and some corny dialogue, but Sora seemed completely satisfied. A grin stretched across his face and he gently dislodged himself from the tangle of Riku's arms he had wrapped himself in, grinning even more when he realized that Riku _wasn'_t frowning. He lifted an eyebrow in his direction and elbowed him lightly in the chest.

"That was fun, wasn't it?"

The frown showed evidence of returning. "It would have been way more fun if you weren't all over me like an itchy, bony blanket.

"Pfft, don't even try to hide it. You liked it."

"Oh really? And what was your first clue to this? My protests to get away, or struggling to keep your shoulder out of my eye?"

"Neither," Sora grinned. "I saw you sneaking looks at me. You liked it. Don't lie!"

Red immediately bloomed across his face. He knew he had been caught once, but he thought he had played it off well. He was so careful the other times and had been positive that Sora hadn't seen him. The tips of his ears burned, but he tried his best to deny it anyway. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yes you do. You were looking at my face at least half a dozen times. I can fight ten heartless at once, Riku. I have excellent peripheral vision."

Riku opened his mouth to protest, but felt the bridge of his nose heat up, as well as his cheeks. "Uh…"

Sora laughed, immensely self satisfied, but his face softened as he noticed how utterly mortified Riku looked. He immediately held back the chuckle and smiled warmly. "It's really okay. Don't worry about it."

"Sora, you're making things up. I never—"

"I mean it," Riku, Sora said again, this time grabbing his hand and lacing their fingers together. "This is what I wanted in the first place. I want you to look at me as much as you want." He brought their entwined hands up and shook them. "I want us to hold hands, and wear matching clothing, and watch movies together, and be best friends that are better than best friends."

Riku was silent, words of protest popping into his mind, but vanishing as soon as they had appeared. Sora seemed to notice this and sighed. "I mean it," he said again quietly. "I don't know what to do to make you believe it."

Riku pursed his lips. "Sora, we really shouldn't. You don't mean any of that."

"I do. Let me show you." He leaned in close, eyes fluttering closed as he did so, but Riku arched back.

"Stop it," he said quietly, gripping Riku's shoulder. His eyes were downcast, staring at some invisible object on the floor. He gave Riku's arm another tug before looking up at him, blue eyes wide and purposeful. "Stop pushing me away like this. I like kissing you, so just let me kiss you."

Riku shook his head, tearing his gaze away and trying to get himself to focus on anything in the room that wasn't Sora. He could feel Sora's hand on his chin though, tilting his head back and forcing him to make eye contact. The look was powerful and it became difficult for him to maintain his self control. There was silence between them, but so much meaning was being communicated through eyes alone, Riku felt that he would have broken into pieces if either of them said a word. Sora closed his eyes, but not to break off the silent conversation between them, but to lean forward and press his lips against Riku's again, but this time, he didn't resist. His muscles locked up, and his throat was dry and heavy.

Then Sora kissed him again.

And again.

And Riku felt the muscles in his chest lock up as he reached around his shoulders to press them together closer. Sora grabbed his hands as if instructing _him_ this time, and wrapped them around his waist, but he never broke the kiss. His lips were soft, gentle, conveying a love and understanding that left Riku unable to think or feel. His hands worked on their own accord, gripping Sora's shoulders and responding in accordance to Sora's own body movements, a language that had come so suddenly, but had never been more natural.

Sora pushed him back against the other side of the couch, hand gliding up his chest to rest at the back of Riku's head, pulling them closer still. His tongue slipped into his mouth, and stars exploded behind Riku's eyes, as if somehow everything in the universe had suddenly fallen out of order, and was now spinning uncontrollably in a span of infinite blackness. Riku gripped Sora's shoulder blades and responded accordingly, feeling too much to even register what exactly was happening.

Suddenly though, a dull vibrating interrupted them, sending Riku back into reality; the stars behind his eyelids coming to a crashing, screaming halt.

Sora paused briefly and rummaged around in his pocket for the cell phone he had forgotten was there and was too slow to hide the name written unmistakably clear across the caller ID.

Kairi.

A look flashed across Sora's face and he muttered a curse before flipping the phone open and pressing the receiver to his ear, sending a quick apologetic look to Riku.

Riku sat motionless, his heart still in his chest, his blood cold in his veins. Sora muttered something into the speaker about calling her back, then closed the phone abruptly. A few seconds of silence passed between them, Sora unsure of what to do, but when he reached up to continue as they were, Riku stiffened, holding him back.

"Sora," he said quietly, hoarse. "I can't…"

"But Riku—"

"No," he said a little louder this time, voice breaking as he clenched his fists. "I really can't do this."

"Sure you can. If it'll make you feel better, I'll tell Kairi—"

Riku shook his head and stared at Sora unblinking. "Sora, listen to me. I can't do this anymore. Not like this."

"Then tell me what to do so that you _can._"

"Riku closed his eyes, feeling pressure behind them but refusing to release it. "Do you love me, Sora?"

"Of course. We've been over this."

"No, do you _really_ love me Sora. Do you love me like you love Kairi?"

Sora looked at him, lower lip trembling just a little bit. "Riku, I—I'm trying to help us. We—"

Riku shook his head and pushed himself off of the couch. "Answer me. Please."

Sora dropped his gaze and his body went limp, as though every bone in his body had suddenly disappeared. He was quiet for a long time, but when he finally spoke, his voice was cracked, hardly above a whisper. "No."

Riku nodded. He knew as much, but needed to hear it out loud; to hear it out in the open to bring himself back to reality, and the realization of what would never be. "As long as that's how it is, I don't think we should see each other anymore."

Sora was silent, eyes wide and, his face contorted into a look of hurt that Riku wished he could have erased from his memories. Holding back tears himself, he pushed himself off of the couch, silently slipping out of the house and closing the door behind him, knowing that it may be the last time he saw his best friend.

* * *

><p>Please remember to review!<p> 


	7. Advice

Whoo! Chapter seven is up! Sorry about the delay…I've been at conferences and classes and whatnot every week and have had very little time to breathe, much less update this sucker. Here's my attempt at updating regularly again…yeah. As always, I don't own any of the characters, so don't sue. Feedback would very much be appreciated!

* * *

><p>It was gray outside, and a wind of less than gentle proportions was unsettling the sand, forcing the broad, sinewy palm tree branches to bend. This was a rather fitting state of the atmosphere, Sora thought beneath the confines of his blanket. He was yet again huddled beneath them, hoping that by some magical power, the world would suddenly reset itself and put everything back to normal…or at least make things bearable.<p>

He shifted in his bed, and peeked from beneath the blanket at the calendar on the wall. He already knew it was something he didn't want to see, but he made himself look anyway, and hoped with all his might that whatever magic was going to reset the world would also turn back the clock.

His throat tightened, when he saw the days marked off. It really had been a week since he had been in human contact.

Since he had seen Kairi.

Since he had talked to his best friend.

His phone had buzzed now and then over the course of the week, and he would have ignored it if he didn't think that a lack of response would send Kairi into a nervous frenzy. She had already lost him once, and he wasn't too keen on making her go through that again. Furthermore, she knew that he was just as much of a people person as Riku _wasn't._ If she ever found out he was purposefully avoiding contact with people, she would assume something was wrong, and he did not need questioning.

He did decide to message her back and invent some lie that he had come down with a very abrupt, and very serious flu, but he did so through a text message, as he was completely sure he wouldn't be able to lie to her through a vocal exchange. She knew him too well. And he was never very good at hiding his feelings.

She had told him that she was worried for him, asked if he needed her to do anything. She was being perfect, caring and wonderful, just as he knew her to be. He couldn't help but feel as though he had let her down, let Riku down, and ruined something so perfect that all the glue in the world would never restore it back to its former glory.

His bottom lip jutted out, and while he had refused to cry, he couldn't help but wonder if he would spend the rest of his life holed up in his room pretending to be sick.

He looked down at his phone. It was running low on power since he hadn't bothered to charge it in the near sleeping marathon he purposefully pulled himself into.

There was one new message, and it was from Kairi. It had been sitting there for who knew how long. He had been too depressed and had felt too guilty to open it.

Sighing, he opened the message and scanned the text.

_Feel better soon. Let me know if you need anything._

He closed his phone and held it over his chest, squeezing his eyes shut. It was so like her to care for him like that. And he did wish that he could feel better soon, that all of this would _go away_ and that he could go back to being a member of the most perfect trio.

He knew that he couldn't though. Not the way things were now. Not as long as he and Riku weren't back to normal. He looked back down at his phone and squeezed it tightly in his hands until his palms turned white and the device threatened to break.

Releasing his fingers with a sigh, he found that the pressure he had put on the phone was still very much so present; however this time it was wrapped around his ribs, his lungs, his heart. It was pressing against the back of his eyes, it was the force of his teeth across his lip.

It wasn't fair that Riku got to just _end_ the two of them like that. He wasn't some toy that could just be cast aside. He was a person with feelings, who loved the Riku that stayed hidden for far too long in the darkness, who was mean, and cold, and just the tiniest bit broken. The Riku who was bitter and pessimistic, who moped and fought and loved like he was punishing himself.

The Riku who wanted so badly to be Sora's Kairi.

The Riku who wasn't _her_ and so perfect despite it.

Sora rolled over, and squeezed his eyes shut. The pressure behind his eyes was nagging at him, and he refused to let it rush over him. He simply refused.

He rolled over again, this time on his side, purposely squeezing his cheeks together between his pillow and mattress. If he allowed himself to become overwhelmed, he would never be able to figure out what to do, and furthermore this hoax of sickness he had created might threaten to become a reality.

A dull groan rolled throughout the room suddenly, and Sora rolled his eyes. In his efforts to stay holed up in the confines of his room while he pondered the complexities of life, further mope about the hopelessness of his romantic relationship, and now the state of his friendship with Riku, he had forgotten more than a few meals.

Frowning, he patted his grumbling stomach. Apparently it was just as upset as he was.

He had bothered to venture from his room only twice the last few days to horde food in his room—and now that the refrigerator was absent of all of his usual no-cook food sources, he knew that he would eventually need to venture out into the public to buy more. He was also in dire need of a shower, and all that time hiding from the world was really starting to make him depressed—not that the abrupt halt in communication with is best friend was particularly joyous. Maybe some time spent _not _thinking about his current relationship turmoil would be beneficial.

It took three attempts to convince himself that continuing on like this would end up making him starve to death, and at last, he sat up, peeling himself out of the covers. He stepped onto the cold floor, bare foot and tired, and stood. Looking himself over in the mirror, he realized that some fresh air on his skin would probably do something about the dead, zombie-esque image he was currently sporting, and that maybe, just maybe, he could stumble upon some kind of marvelous, magical talisman that could make all of this _go away._

Trying to work his furrowed brows into some semblance of a smile, he showered and pulled on a random shirt and pants combination, hoping only faintly that they matched. Plastering on a shadow of a smile, he pulled on his socks and shoes and descend the stairs of his house, ready to greet the world…or something like that.

At the very least, Destiny Islands was doing its best to assuage some of his anxiety. Though there was a blustery wind picking up, the waves were relaxingly rhythmic, the temperature was not too hot. The sun was completely obscured by a thick collection of clouds; his skin thankful for the break. The grey sky had him slightly suspicious of a tropical storm rolling in later that afternoon, but since it wasn't raining yet, he was satisfied. Maybe getting out of the house was exactly what he needed today. Brooding in his room never really was his style, and like always, surrounding himself with people lifted his mood. As long as those people remained distinctly _not_ Riku or Kairi, he might look forward to being out in the world today.

He was actually already starting to feel better as he immersed himself with the hustle and bustle of a morning on the islands, enjoying the smell of the street snacks sold by local vendors and the shouts of merchants selling their wares outside the little shops. If he spent another few hours outside in this atmosphere, maybe he _would_ end up happening across that magic talisman.

Venturing to put a legitimate smile on his face, he began to relax. There was something spicy and sweet in the air, and despite how it was making his stomach rumble, he slowed his pace to the store to really enjoy the walk. So far he had not seen a hint of Kairi or Riku, and the grocery store to which he was headed was already in sight. In fact, as he passed through the glass doors of the store, he had even acquired a bounce in his step. The chilliness of the air conditioned space made his skin prickle delightfully, and the promise of food at the end of his walk rested wonderfully in his mind. He snatched a basket near the door and surveyed the aisles for appropriate foods to store in the bare cupboards—perhaps extra to store underneath his bed. Grinning, he spied the row of calorie-laden chips and cookies and was positively giddy with the thought of filling his basket with them.

It was then that he felt the first strike of the dagger trying to pierce his good mood, which was still very much so still in its embryonic stage.

"Hey! Is that Sora over there?"

Pausing mid reach, Sora grinded his teeth and mentally scrolled through a list of options for escape. Unmistakably, that was the ever loud and energetic voice of Wakka.

"I think it is! Hey, Sora, is that you?"

And, as expected, there was the equally energetic voice of Tidus to follow, a not-so-uncommon accompaniment.

Cringing, he thought faster. Running wouldn't work. That would make his existence even more obvious. He couldn't slay them—Wakka and Tidus _not_ being Heartless after all, and now he couldn't even pretend to be someone else, because he had already been spotted.

Visibly panicking now, he decided to try the latter option anyway, and pulled up the hood of his shirt, thankful that he had bothered to grab a shirt with a hood attached in his dispassionate quest for clothing that morning. Slowly, he slid the hood up over his ears and tugged it down, shuffling to down the aisle. For extra precautions, he pulled his sleeves down to obscure his hands.

"It looks like Sora. Let's go say 'hi!'" Wakka said again, and Sora felt the pit of his stomach drop.

Had managed to summon enough energy to message Kairi a couple of times during his week-long hiatus from humanity, convincing her that he had caught a really bad head cold, and since he doubted Riku wanted to look at him ever again, especially after how he walked out of his house, rejecting him like some cinematic vixen, messaging him was really unnecessary. Wakka and Tidus on the other hand had not seen him in over a week; a very unusual occurrence since his return with Riku five years ago.

Explaining his depression to them was absolutely out of the question.

He really had no one else to blame for his usually very positive attitude. He couldn't help it. He always saw his glasses half full, and preferred to look on the brighter side of situations. It was very helpful in otherwise very stressful times during his conquests across the worlds, but now it was proving to be rather annoying, because if his friends saw any contradiction to his cheeriness, he was undoubtedly going to be subjected to harsh questioning.

"Hey! Wow, you probably didn't hear us calling you with that hood over your head, ya?" Wakka said, slapping him on the back with a heavy hand and grinning. "It almost looks like you were hiding from us!"

Sora peeled the hood off his head reluctantly and fit his face with a smile. "Er…no, not at all! I was just…well…anyway, what are you guys up to?"

Tidus stopped next to Wakka and offered a grin as well. "We were just out getting some ice cream. Wakka wanted to be productive today, but I talked him out of it."

Sora chuckled. "Productive?"

"Yeah," Wakka chimed in. "I was going to map out some drills for that rookie Blitzball team I'm coaching, but ice cream was a pretty convincing argument against it."

"I'd agree with that. I was just doing some junk food shopping myself," Sora gestured to the wall of chips he was ready to put into his basket. "Although I've been anything but productive these last few days, eating junk food is a better alternative to almost anything."

"Speaking of which," Tidus said, "I haven't seen you in a pretty long time. It's not like you to ditch us you know!"

"Yeah, some friend you are!"

"It's not like that at all!" Sora smiled sheepishly. "I really haven't been ditching you guys. I've just been…well…er…"

"Yeah, yeah. We know you have stuff to do with your well-paying job, the family you're raising, and that doctoral degree you've been working on." Wakka grinned. "Oh wait, you aren't doing any of that!"

"Let's face it, Wakka. We've been ditched!" He mock sobbed into Wakka's arm, shoulders heaving up and down.

The rotary wheel of believable lies in Sora's head was apparently jammed up. "Really! I'm not ditching you. I was…I was…I was sick!" It unstuck just in the nick of time. "Headache, sore throat, fever, the works. I'm better now, so that's good."

Tidus nodded. "Sick huh? Well, now that you mention it, you do look a little pale."

"Wait, I can see those dark circles under your eyes, too. They look really bad, ya."

Sora began to feel just a little bit guilty.

Tidus clapped him on the back and grinned. "Fine, you're forgiven this time. But if you let it happen again, I'd start fearing for your life. Wakka's unpredictable."

"Excuse me?"

Tidus waved him away. "Speaking of sick, did you know that the best cure for a sore throat is ice cream? I didn't either until just this very second." He held up the basket he was holding, which was loaded with ice cream bars of varying flavors. "Why don't you join us? My treat!"

"Oh…well…that sounds great guys, really, but—"

"Nonsense," Wakka cut him off grabbing his wrist and pulling. "You've finally joined the land of the living and for once Tidus is being generous. If this isn't an opportunity to celebrate, I don't know what is!" He didn't wait for Sora to protest more and dragged him down the aisle as he and Tidus chatted excitedly. Sora really just wanted to get his groceries and go, but Wakka's vice grip made the decision for him.

"And I've pretty much cleaned out the entire selection, so don't worry about finding a flavor you like," Tidus said as they approached the cash register. "I couldn't decide what ice cream I wanted, so I got all of them. I have no idea how I thought I was going to eat all of them before they melted, but that's what you're here for." He grinned and set the basket on the counter.

"Are you buying mine, too?" Wakka asked, tossing his ice cream on the counter as well.

Tidus made a point of separating them with a large space. "No way. In fact, you still owe _me_ for that time one of your little Blitzball monsters kicked that ball into my head."

Wakka waved his hands defensively. "It wasn't my fault. You should have been watching."

"You _told_ them to aim for me!"

"I told them to aim for the goal _behind_ you!"

The cashier exchanged a look of amused confusion with Sora before putting all of their purchases into a sack and sending them on their way. Chuckling to himself, Sora decided to hope for the best. At the very least, he was getting free ice cream out of the deal, and he did miss seeing Wakka and Tidus.

"Ah, here we are," Tidus sighed, throwing himself down on the edge of the pier and rummaging through the sack for an ice cream bar. "Come on chocolate, come on chocolate!" Satisfied in his selection, he tossed the bag in Sora's direction. "Take whatever you want."

Sora grinned and pulled out banana, thanking Tidus before handing the bag back to him. Wakka unwrapped his own sea-salt flavored ice cream bar and grimaced. "Ya, what is this? I thought this was one of those new mystery flavored ice creams." He inspected the bar distastefully. "Sora, isn't this that sea salt flavor that you, Kairi and Riku always eat? Trade me."

Sora grimaced at the mention of his girlfriend and best friend, remembering times when things were not as complicated.

"Why the sour face, ya? I thought you liked sea-salt."

"It's nothing. I do, you're right." He exchanged his ice cream with Wakka and licked it thoughtfully.

"Your cold coming back?" Tidus inquired leaning back. "Last time I checked, ice cream does anything but produce that expression…unless you get it on your teeth." He grimaced. "What's up?"

"Really, it's nothing."

Waka's eyes narrowed. "Save that for someone who hasn't known you for your entire life, ya? It's not often you look as sour as Tidus."

"I resent that! I don't look sour!"

"I think Selphie and a handful of young children around here would disagree with that."

"Shut up! Besides, this isn't about me. It's about Sora. What's got you so down?"

Sora leaned back as well, unsure about breeching the subject with the two of them. He decided if anything he was going to start with the lighter side of things. "Ugh, let me ask you guys a question."

"Shoot."

"How much do you know about girls?"

Wakka hiccupped into his ice cream, smearing a banana flavored trail down his chin. "What kind of question is that, yah? You and Kairi having issues?"

Sora quickly waved his hands dismissively. "No! Well, not really. It's just a question."

Tidus chuckled. "Well, you're one lucky guy. You just happened to be talking with the resident expert on women and romancing. You couldn't have picked a better person to ask."

"'Cept for maybe Riku," Wakka chimed in, which earned him a swift knock to the back of his head, yet again, pushing his face into his ice cream. "Yah! If this keeps going on I'm not going to have anymore left!"

"Anyway," Tidus continued, fishing around in the plastic bag for another ice cream. "I've dated from here to the end of the ocean, and time and time again, my theory about women has been proven: they're nothing but trouble!"

"Trouble?"

"Yes. They're all trouble. They're always so… 'Tidus, when are you going to take us more seriously?' or 'Tidus, why don't we try to hold hands when we walk together?' And then there's my personal favorite, 'Tidus, what do you mean you were hanging out with _her_ last night. I thought we were exclusive!' Really, they're so petty."

"Yah, I don't think your on-again-off again relationship with Selphie really qualifies you as an expert on dating, Tidus."

"I've dated plenty of women, thank you Wakka. Selphie just happens to be the girl that's lasted the longest. And anyway, I haven't seen you linking up arms with any girls recently."

"Coaching that Blitzball team keeps me too busy for all that stuff!"

"Uh huh."

Sora sighed. He really was far behind in the dating world, and now he didn't even have his own best friend to bicker with about it. He sighed again, which caught Tidus attention.

"You know what I think your problem is, Sora?"

"Er…what?"

"I think you're too nice of a guy. You worry too much. Whatever rough patch you and Kairi are going through will work itself out. You've just got to put it on ice. Let her come to you and ask for forgiveness."

"Tidus," Wakka said with narrowed eyes. "I don't really think you're the best person to give advice on conflict resolution. How many times has Selphie threatened to kill you in your sleep?"

"Seven, which is still in the single digits."

"…Okay, well…take it from me. I'm a coach, and my little brats fight all the time. The best thing to do is talk it out, and the sooner you resolve the problem, the faster you'll be back in the game. Whatever you do, don't punch her or threaten her with a Blitzball."

"…Uh…"

Wakka shook his head. "Besides, this is Kairi and _you _we're talking about here. I can't even picture you guys even _thinking_ about fighting."

"Yeah," Tidus added. "She's not even really a chick."

It was Sora's turn to glare at him, to which Tidus quickly tried to explain. "Er…what I meant was, she's not like _regular_ chicks. I don't think I've ever seen her angry, and she's pretty forgiving. In fact, I bet you could kick her and threaten with her with a Blitzball and she'd still come hang out with you the next day. She's always been the nice one. Why do _I_ always get stuck with all of the belligerent ones?"

Sora laughed. "Well…we're not really fighting or anything. Actually things are going pretty well. I think. It's just…I don't know. With everything that's happened in the past, I haven't really had time to know how to be around girls so there are times that I just feel uncomfortable."

"Oh?"

Sora blushed, feeling as though he was already giving away too much information. If he was going to walk away with some of his dignity, Wakka and Tidus _could not_ find out about the kissing ordeal.

Wakka grinned at the onset of Sora's blush, and immediately, Sora knew that he was in trouble.

"Ooooh! What's this here, ya? Why are you turning red? Something tells me that this conversation is about to get much more interesting. What's got you so uncomfortable with Kairi? Out with it!"

"It's nothing!" Sora said, feeling his face redden even more. When Tidus nearly jumped over Wakka to get a better look at his face, Sora swiveled around in his seat on the pier and shoved the rest of his ice cream in his mouth.

"Oh this is too good!" Tidus laughed. "Come on Sora, tell us!"

"No! There's nothing to tell!"

"If it was nothing then you wouldn't be blushing like that. Oh!"

The devious chuckle that followed struck Sora to his very core and he very strongly wished that he was back at home under the covers. "Stop laughing like that. You don't know anything."

"Oh hohohoho, I believe I do!" Tidus chuckled, wedging himself between Sora and Wakka. "I think I very much know what is going on here. You and Kairi…you want to…."

"Tidus stop it. That is _not _it!"

"Yes it is! You want to plant the seed, water the garden, pluck the flower…whatever other nature-themed euphemisms you want to use."

"Tidus! I don't—"

It was Wakka's turn to burst out laughing this time, swinging an arm around Tidus' shoulders as he wiped the corner of his eyes. "Now, now Sora. It's only natural. There comes a time in every man's life when he feels it's time to sow his seed in the mighty garden of the universe. It's just that you've probably picked the purest flower to well…deflower."

Sora was so red now he was surprised that he wasn't on fire. "Cut it out! Something like that is not even in the picture right now. I don't even know how to kiss her the right way yet!"

Tidis and Wakka abruptly stopped laughing, and Sora felt the once very prevalent heated red in his face drain away until he was quite possibly the color of chalk.

"You don't know how to _kiss _her?"

Sora ran his hand down his face. _Wonderful._ "Well…"

"Sora, that's possibly the most adorable thing I've ever heard." Tidus chuckled.

"I know," Wakka agreed. "It's so sweet I don't even want my ice cream anymore. What's next, are you going to invite her to prom and have her back before nine?"

"Shut up! It's not funny."

"You're right. It's hilarious!"

"Leave me alone!" Sora hid his hands in his face this time, hoping very much that the ground would just swallow him up. "It's not my fault. I've never really had a lot of time to practice these things!"

"Yeah, that's true." Wakka agreed. "Come to think of it, Kairi is your first girlfriend, isn't she?"

"Yeah."

Tidus waved his empty popsicle stick around, fishing for his third in the bag. "This really isn't a problem you know. All you have to do is get yourself a cheeseburger and—"

"Don't listen to him," Wakka interjected. "I've never been able to look at cheeseburgers the same way."

Sora scratched the back of his head. "I don't intend to, thanks. I've been asking Riku for er…pointers but—"

"Oooh, good call!" Tidus said again, ripping the wrapper off of his strawberry popsicle enthusiastically. "He always was the ladies man, if I'm remembering high school correctly. Well, second to me of course."

Wakka laughed. "He could probably teach you how to be cool, too. Girls like that; the strong brooding type."

"And guys who play guitar."

"Riku doesn't play guitar…"

"Really? Well, whatever. He looks like he could. That's why we were the greatest rivals for women. It was not an easy battle, but I came out victorious. Tell me, what advice has he been giving you?"

"Please, you're just trying to milk information from Sora so that you can fix your own dating issues without having to admit you're not the ladies man you think you are."

"Wakka, surely you're kidding. I had six girls chasing me while I dated Selphie, all of which slipped me their phone numbers under Selphie's nose until she found out about it. That's got to be some kind of world record."

Wakka clapped slowly, and rolled his eyes. He then spared a look over to Sora, who looked as if his dog had just run away. "Hey what's the matter now, ya?"

"It's nothing. It's just that…well, Riku and I are just...we're not really talking right now so—"

"What? _You two?_ You guys are like, inseparable! How can you not be talking?"

"Are you guys fighting now, too?"

"No we aren't fighting." Sora was careful this time as to how to form his words. Perhaps letting the kissing thing slip was embarrassing, but letting the two of them know that he had been practicing on Riku and subsequently dating him would have been unacceptable on a completely different level, furthermore that it had gotten this out of hand. "It's hard to explain, and I don't really want to talk about it."

"Ooh! Secrets don't keep friends!"

"Gossip doesn't either," Wakka elbowed him in the ribs. "If he doesn't want to talk about it, he doesn't want to talk about it!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I was just kidding. Talking to us about it is probably not the best move. You should go to talk to _him_ about it. Fighting with your girlfriend is one thing, but fighting with your best friend? Not cool."

Wakka's mouth hung open and he stared at Tidus, blinking. "What? Something that prolific came out of _your _mouth?"

"Every once in a while, I can pop out something good."

Wakka stood quickly and shoved the litter from his popsicles into the empty bag. "Sora, you'd better go talk to him now. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to follow good advice given to you by Tidus. This doesn't happen often, so you'd better hurry before the planets go back out of alignment."

This earned him a punch in the arm by Tidus, who also stood. "I resent that."

Sora nodded. "I guess I should. This is just going to be…weird."

"So is Wakka, but I talk to him anyway."

Sora smiled. "Thanks, guys."

"It's no problem, Sora. Just try not to desert us again, ya? You ran away from here once, and we almost thought you were getting ready to do it again!"

"I don't think I'm going anywhere for a while," Sora replied as he stood up. "Things are too out of order here to leave it now."

"That's the spirit!"

The three of them shared grins before parting ways, Sora a bit more reluctantly than Tidus and Wakka. They were right. Despite how he had almost completely failed in his attempt to keep these problems to himself, he had managed to leave with some good advice. He did need to go sort things out with Riku, then subsequently Kairi, no matter how awkward he thought it was going to be. Turning abruptly on his heel, he hurried down the boardwalk to put as little time between the present moment and meeting with Riku as possible. He had no idea what he was going to say. He never did. The important thing, he realized, was that he just needed to say _something._ Sora frowned, shoving his hands deep in his pockets to keep his hands warm from the steadily increasing wind. Tidus and Wakka were right. This was stupid. He and Riku were best friends.

As he had discovered during his time traveling the worlds, he thought better with his heart and gut better than he did with his brain, and it was proving to be quite true now too.

He turned toward the direction of Riku's house, but stopped short, realizing that he had forgotten his shopping quest. He knew that mending things with Riku was important, but doing so on an empty stomach wouldn't be beneficial to either of them. He decided to make a quick trip back to the grocery store before heading off.

* * *

><p>Please remember to review! :)<p> 


	8. The Talk

Hello all! I'm back with chapter 8. Please remember to give feedback if you have the time. I appreciate any words for improvement or motivation, if you don't mind sending them my way. :)

No special notes on this one. I don't own, so don't sue me. I'm clearly not making any money off of this, hahah.

* * *

><p>Riku was sprawled on his couch contemplating the likelihood of the ceiling falling on top of him and bashing some sense into his skull.<p>

He didn't know how long he had spent on the couch, and he had half a mind to believe that he hadn't moved from that spot since he had left Sora's house a week ago. A quick survey of his attire denounced that idea, as he had apparently gotten up at some point to put on some different clothes, but he hadn't remembered the event in any detail.

He sighed, perhaps coaxing the plaster and wood to crack just a little in the spot directly above his forehead.

Riku had to hand it to himself. He had done a rather impressive job of trampling over his relationship with Sora. Even when he had a _keyblade_ pointed at Sora, they still managed to come together neatly. He would have thought that this situation would have been mended in a similar fashion; however, this wound was peppered with the oh-so-bitter flavor of _concentrated_ awkwardness. Fighting each other through Kingdom Hearts, all of the pain and frustration experienced because of which, was something that could be talked through. Harboring not-so-platonic feelings that were everything but appropriate for the nature of their relationship was _not. _

Groaning out loud, Riku wanted to roll over and bury his face in the couch cushions, but realized that the action would require _movement_ and decided against it. Echoing his groan, a low rumble from the shifting clouds outside filled his ears; evidence of an encroaching storm. As if this week wasn't _perfect_ already, the storm would just be the foul smelling, misshapen cherry on top.

He didn't _mean_ to get so involved in the kiss. Sora had come to him with a little favor, a favor he had to admit was a little too tempting not to exploit. He was only human, and he could only withstand so much temptation before the pressure became too much, and the little favor—put so willingly and easily into his lap with the gentle vow that no one would find out he was indulging unless he explicitly said so—got the better of him.

_Why_ had Kairi decided to pull _that_ one out? He should have known it was too good to be true. He could just remember it now. Poor, unassuming Sora had walked in, finding no reason to suspect anything other than safety in his best friend's house. He had meekly requested a favor, something he had only trusted him with, something he had been ashamed of for fear of rejection from the outside world, and more importantly, his girlfriend...

And what did _Riku_ do in return?

He probably had a hungry look in his eyes at the mention of the request, like some sort of rabid, hedonic animal, fueled by lust and a sick and twisted desire to corrupt his best friend. Oh the innocent little pecks from before were just an appetizer! The main course was just offered, and the beast was going to have his fill no matter who was against the idea.

Then Sora had to go and suggest that they date, and tempt the beast even more. All Riku's shouts of protest went out the window forever cast into an inescapable void. He knew it was wrong. He knew he should have been more forceful. Never had he so far underestimated his own weakness.

Riku snatched the pillow from behind his head and covered his face with it. As soon as the polyester was flattened against his face, he let out another groan, this one loud and long.

Silently, he placed it back, feeling only a little satisfied.

Didn't he tell himself before that indulging like this was a bad idea? Didn't he tell himself over and over that viewing the instruction as anything more than instruction was a bad idea? He just had to push it, to put in just enough feeling to get lost. He just had to push far enough to derail the whole train into a smoldering pit of flames.

Riku shook his head. He had run all of these thoughts over and over in his mind nearly every waking minute for the past week. He knew where he went wrong, he knew why he was at fault, and he knew perfectly well that he had better go work up the courage to make things right. Sitting on his couch like this was about as fun as being smothered to death, and the way his heart ached for human contact was not something he was able to ignore.

Then again, he _did_ just leave Sora after telling them that they shouldn't be friends anymore…

And so, he kept himself holed up in his house, listening to the ominous rumble of thunder in the distance, the unsettled ocean sloshing against the shore, and the high pitched whine of guilt trampling about his brain.

Just as he was going to lean back and commence to sulking, an idea occurred to him. Though wallowing in self pity was proving to be extremely productive, perhaps a more active approach to fixing the situation was necessary. At the moment he was not at all comfortable with confronting Sora, and furthermore sealed the deal by telling him they shouldn't talk anymore. However; the source of the problem in the first place was none the wiser to Riku's malicious assault on his friendship with Sora.

Kairi.

Perhaps if he could fix things between Kairi and Sora, he could at least have _something_ to cling to when he and Sora eventually talked.

He sat up at this and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. If he could somehow rectify whatever problem Sora was having with Kairi, then he would have evidence—for both himself and for Sora—that he wasn't such a bad person after all, provided of course Sora hadn't told her anything. It was a long shot, but there was a possibility. He paused to look around the living room for a moment, wondering how best to breach the subject. He talked to Kairi every once in a while, but since their return, she and Sora had been practically glued together, and rather than assume the third wheel position, Riku had opted to only communicate with her very casually. It might be a little awkward coming to talk to her out of the blue, but the thought of never talking to Sora again was far worse.

Satisfied with his plan, he stood from the couch and straightened his clothes out. Deciding that his jeans could stay wrinkled, and that his shirt would eventually work itself out on the walk over, he ran his hands through his hair a few times to loosen the tangles. He sighed audibly before slipping on his shoes, but did so quickly, knowing that the faster he made his way over to her house, the less time he would have to change his mind.

Kairi did not live too far away, and for this he was grateful. The storm was probably only a few hours away, and if he had too far to walk, he knew he would end up talking himself out of talking with her. This he could not afford. Spending another week on the couch could possibly end his sanity.

Focusing only on the crunch of sand beneath his feet and the sound of the waves rushing against the shore, he made his way to her house, his face set into a look of pure determination. As he neared her house, he felt nervousness well up inside him. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to think? How was he supposed to rectify this whole thing without spilling Sora's secret? He supposed that he would be okay with telling a few white lies here and there if necessary, if that was what it took. Covering up minor details with a couple of lies was much better than putting further strain on things with Sora. He tucked this thought into his mind as he walked up to her porch, the dull glow of light from the windows inside offering only a little pacification to his racing blood.

He lifted his fist to knock and struck the wood softly, then again a little harder. He waited for someone to answer, the seconds ticking in tandem with his shaking hands. He halfway hoped that no one would be there, but the sound of approaching footsteps destroying that wish.

"Who is it?" Came a soft voice, which Riku instantly recognized to be Kairi's.

He swallowed hard. "Uh, it's me…Riku."

The door opened slowly, and he contemplated running, though there would be no place to hide. He was greeted with a pair of large blue eyes, blinking curiously at him, a mouth was shaped with similar features of confusion: agape in shock.

"Riku?" She said quietly, hugging the door as though she wasn't entirely sure there was a stranger posing to be him. It wasn't often that he dropped by unannounced. It wasn't often that he dropped by _at all._

"Uh, yeah. Me. Hi."

She opened the door fully, this time revealing her whole body; clothed in a light purple dress, and wrapped in a light green apron. The hand not occupying the door was perched on her hip. "Oh!" She smiled. "Hi! What brings you here?"

He fidgeted on her porch for a moment, his feet fighting to stay. "I was just wondering if I could…talk to you for a minute. If you're not busy that is."

She stared at him with another look of confusion, then quickly replaced it with a smile. "Not at all. Please, come in." She opened the door for him to enter, and he slid through the door frame, his nose instantly overwhelmed with the smell of something delicious.

"We can sit in the kitchen and talk, if you'll pardon the mess." She blushed lightly. "I was baking. You can sit at the counter if you want."

Riku nodded and headed into the kitchen as she went to lock the front door. When he entered, he noticed a rather impressive array of baking equipment and ingredients. Flour was strewn about the counter, and a small stack of bowls rested in the kitchen sink. A few decorative baskets were on the kitchen table, each lined with wax paper in preparation to be filled.

"You planning to open up a bakery?"

She giggled sheepishly as she entered the kitchen again, starting to clear bowls up on the counter. "I was going to bake something for Sora since he's been sick this week, but I couldn't decide what I wanted to make. My Grandmother is also feeling a bit under the weather, so I plan to pay her a visit soon. I decided to bake a few things and give away whichever one tastes better." She indicated a chair at the counter for him to sit on. "Since you're here, you can be the taste tester."

"Er…thanks. I never pass up food." He wondered what she meant about Sora being sick. Though he hadn't been speaking to him either for the past few days to verify it, he doubted Sora had told her the truth.

"Good." An uncomfortable look came over her face, and she folded her hands in front of her on the floured counter. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Oh, right." Riku fidgeted on the barstool, now somewhat regretting not having come over with a game plan. How was he supposed to fix a relationship that was really none of his business? "Nice of you to bake for him."

Kairi nodded. "Apparently it's really bad. We haven't talked in nearly a week."

That sounded familiar. "A week, huh?"

"Well, I've messaged him a few times to make sure he's okay, but otherwise nothing."

"Hm."

She looked at him. "Have you talked to him at all? You guys are so inseparable I doubt even a cold could keep you two apart. Clearly the worlds couldn't." She smiled again, and at this Riku's heart sank. He looked at her face closer and noticed that the smile gracing her lips was faltering a bit at the edges, and the sparkle in her eyes had dimmed. The look disappeared as quickly as it had come though, and she was reaching into a bowl, pulling out a thick lump of dough.

Riku wasn't dumb enough to ignore an out when he saw one. "I haven't spoken to him either," he said with his head down. "I didn't even know he was uh...under the weather"

"Maybe it came up suddenly?"

"Yeah?"

"…Yeah."

There was a long pause of silence. Riku folded his own hands underneath the counter and looked up beneath his fringe at Kairi kneading dough. She looked a bit uncomfortable as well, but channeled it into working the dough into the flour. What was he supposed to say now?

The seconds ticked into full minute, and Riku thought he was going to come unglued if he didn't come up with _something_ to say.

As he was contemplating other topics of idle chatter, discarding all of them as too random, or too strange, Kairi stopped working. She let out a small sigh and looked at him seriously, finally broke the silence. "You know Riku, we've become a bit awkward, don't you think?"

Riku gulped. "A-awkward?"

"Yes." She leaned against the counter and laced her fingers, looking towards the ceiling. "I remember when we were kids. Sora, you and I would play together for hours, collecting shells on the ground, fishing."

"I remember that."

She nodded. "Remember how you would always catch the biggest fish? Sora would get so jealous, and then wind up catching all of the weird stuff."

Riku chuckled. "Remember that time he caught that horseshoe crab? He was convinced we had stumbled across an alien nest. Then you showed him that picture in a book of what it actually was."

Kairi mirrored his laugh. "He still couldn't sleep for a week after that. We had to spend days convincing him that we weren't under attack."

Riku nodded fondly and folded his arms. "Those were good times."

"They were." She leaned against the counter and looked at him seriously. "What happened to that, Riku? We always talked so easily back then. Talking to you was as easy as talking to Sora. I don't see you as often anymore." She smiled sadly. "I have to admit, when I saw you outside my doorstep, I almost thought you were coming to warn me of some kind of impending attack. Casually seeing you anymore is almost unheard of."

He looked at the counter.

She blinked, then put her hands on her hips. "Wait, we aren't under an impending attack are we?"

"Er…oh, no. We're not as far as I know."

"That's a relief." She went back to tending to the dough. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to derail your whole reason for coming over. I was just…what I mean to say is that I really miss you, Riku."

"I miss you too, Kairi." He said it reflexively at first, only as a polite response to what she had said, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized that it was true. He hadn't been able to talk to her with the same ease and comfort he had since before he had left Destiny Islands years ago to battle with the darkness. He wasn't entirely sure of what it was that kept him away; perhaps a combination of things. It seemed to only get worse when she started dating Sora. He really did miss things being the way that they used to be; back when things were simple.

"Kairi," he started simply, pausing for her to look up, and for himself to take a breath. "I was kind of wanting to talk to you about the real reason I haven't spoken to Sora in a week, despite this cold or whatever."

At this she stopped moving her hands. "The real reason?"

"Yes. We kind of ran into a _disagreement_ you might say, about where things are between the three of us." He flicked his eyes to the side, then added, "more so with an emphasis on you and Sora…er…Sora and me, plus you…well..."

"Eh, Riku…that doesn't really…"

"I know, I know," he said with a huff. "I'm just not sure of how to put this. I don't want you to misjudge me, and more importantly, misjudge Sora."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"It's hard to think of a good way to word it…so that it will make sense."

Her silence made his blood run cold, and he panicked a bit before continuing. "The thing is, you and Sora…there's…something you don't know…"

She dusted her hands on the front of her apron, then leaned back against the counter, her head raised in thought. For a moment, Riku wondered if he had offended her. She thought briefly, then spoke softly.

"You know, I feel a little guilty." She looked at him sheepishly, and Riku was slightly taken aback. He had _not_ expected that statement at all.

"You've known Sora longer than I have, so I'm sure you know better than I do what kind of person he is." She continued. "He's not the best planner, and sometimes he makes mistakes, but he's the purest, kindest, most well intended person I know. His heart is always in the right place, and he will do anything to help out someone in need, even leave everything he knows and loves just to protect his two best friends from the darkness." She looked at Riku seriously. "Riku, Sora's never given me any reason to ask for more."

He could only stare at her. "But…"

"I have to admit, I'm a little envious of you two. You've been friends forever. You've had such a natural relationship, growing up together, playing together. I'm so lucky that when I showed up that you two were willing to disrupt that to accept me in. It was so nice to share that connection with you guys, but even still, I felt a little out of place. There's nothing stronger than the Riku-Sora duo." Her expression was sad, but a smile was still on her lips as she spoke. "When Sora chased after me through the darkness those years ago, and when you helped me, I really felt like I was a part of something great. I felt like the third musketeer. I was grateful to him for saving me, but it also offered confirmation that I was also a piece of this friendship."

Riku was shocked. He had never thought about this before. He had never known that she felt this way.

"When Sora asked me to be his girlfriend, I was so happy I could have burst, but to tell you the truth, I didn't need it."

"I don't understand."

She shook her head. "I don't need him to buy me things, walk with me along the beach, or kiss me goodnight on the porch. I just need for him to be Sora."

"But that's…that's…"

She nodded. "I don't even need to be with him as his girlfriend to be happy. If he were so uncomfortable with the way things are, then I would gladly give up our relationship if that meant saving our friendship." She smiled. "I don't want him to feel like he owes me anything more than that."

Riku was silent as Kairi unlaced her fingers and went back to baking.

"Riku," she said quietly after loading a pan into the oven. "You should make up with Sora as soon as you can."

Startled, He looked up. "Nothing that you guys are fighting over can possibly be worth losing your friendship."

All this time he spent being secretly jealous of Kairi…

When she was actually the person who was right all along.

He didn't need their relationship to be something more, especially if it meant losing their friendship.

Kairi smiled at him. "Tell Sora to stop worrying about us. He's doing just fine."

"I'll do that."

"And you," she said picking up one of the tins on the table and handing it to him, "had better get back home. There's an awful storm rolling in and I'd hate for you to have to walk back in it."

He nodded and accepted the tin. "Thanks," he said quietly. "We should talk more often."

"Definitely."

He bid her goodbye and headed out of the door, tin in hand. While he appreciated the pastries, he was even more grateful for the advice, especially since had not come over with the intent to learn anything. He knew that first and foremost, he had to address his relationship with Sora.

"Actually wait," he heard a quiet voice behind him, and turned around to see Kairi shuffling after him. Her face was red, and even though there were no tears streaming down her face, he knew that something was wrong.

"What's the matter?"

She smiled at him, her eyes forming half-moons. "Nothing's the matter. I just realized that I need to get more ingredients. I've managed to bake myself into a hole, so I'm following you out."

"You're going to the store?"

"Yes. I was in the middle of making scones, and I realized I wouldn't have enough eggs to make the strawberry pinwheel cookies my grandmother is so fond of. She's sick you know. Did I mention that earlier? Anyway, I think they'd be perfect to help her feel better.

Riku nodded slowly, unable to take his eyes off of the crafted smile on her face. "And you're going to go now?"

"Better than when the storm rolls in, wouldn't you agree?"

"Well yes, but…"

"Don't worry, it won't be for long. She gently nudged him forward by his shoulders, but Riku recognized that this was an attempt to get him to stop looking at her, not to hurry him along. He gave her another slow nod and she was pushing him harder now, under the guise of being playful, but Riku didn't have to be as emotionally in tuned as Sora to know that she was keeping something hidden. He allowed her that much—his guilt at the present situation would have given her anything she wanted, including Sora if he could—and let her push him out of the door.

She dusted her hands as if she had just completed some great task and waved, that smile from before never leaving her face.

As he plodded around outside though, contemplating Kairi, the wind whipped his hair a bit. Indeed, a rather large storm was rolling in and if it was going to be anywhere as strong as the sudden windiness indicated, he probably needed to board up his windows.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading, and please review! :)<p> 


	9. Storm

Chapter 9 is up! Thanks for staying with it so far!

* * *

><p>Sora turned toward the direction of Riku's house, his eyebrows arched downward sharply, indicating his determination. He took a few steps forward, but an awkward grumbling sound erupted through his being, and he placed a hand over his stomach to placate the disgruntled digestive organ. With all the distractions, he had forgotten his shopping quest. He knew that mending things with Riku was important, but doing so on an empty stomach wouldn't be beneficial to either of them.<p>

He decided to make a quick trip back to the grocery store before heading off.

He sped around the corner and barely missed clipping his head on a few overhanging rugs for sale. He ducked down, but couldn't avoid stumbling into a few nearby patrons. He skidded to a halt as he wound up chest to chest with a particularly grumpy looking man. He grinned sheepishly, stepped backwards, inadvertently backing into someone else. He turned to the woman he backed into, and firmly gripped her arm to keep her from tumbling over herself.

"I'm really sorry about that," he said, a guilty smile tugging across his face. "I was in a hurry and didn't—"

The girl smoothed down her skirt and looked up at him, dark red locks of hair catching the little light produced from the clouds above, the ends of sweeping against her shoulders and neck. She blinked once.

Then again.

Sora nearly stumbled back into the man he had previously run into.

"Sora…what are you doing here?" The girl said in an astounded voice that spread Sora's entire being. "I thought you were sick."

Sora swallowed hard, trying to peel words from the inner vortex of his mind. His tongue was thick and slow in his mouth, and he could barely stammer out a greeting. Pausing to take a breath to collect himself from a panic that stemmed from somewhere unknown, he looked at her with as even of an expression that he could muster.

"Hi Kairi."

Kairi smiled at Sora, a mixture of pleasure and confusion. She looked a bit like she wasn't sure if a joke was being played on her, but was trying to be a good sport about it anyway. Sora couldn't help but think that perhaps she wasn't too far off the mark. Something wasn't right. As much as he had wanted to avoid hurting anyone's feelings through the course of all this, he was on the right track to doing so anyway.

He tried to force himself to smile despite the nervous feeling welling up in the pit of his stomach. "How are you?"

She looked at him silently for a collection of seconds, taking his distinctly _not_ sick appearance. Her lips twitched upward. "Ah, I'm fine. That's the question I should be asking though, don't you think?"

A brief flash of confusion traveled across Sora's face.

Her lips twitched again. "You were sick. Are you feeling better?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head, a habit he developed that preceded a lie that he was about to tell. He retracted his hand immediately after noticing the nervous tick and distracted his body by helping her collect a few of her fallen purchases. "Yes," he said. "I'm feeling much better, actually."

"Ah, I'm glad to hear it." If she realized he was lying, she did a great job hiding it. This unnerved him.

Before she could question him further, he handed her the parcels and stood back to make sure she hadn't been hurt during the minor collision. "What brings you out in this impending craziness?" He indicated the sky and the rolling clouds.

Kairi laughed lightly, holding out her shopping bags, filled to the brim with cooking ingredients: fruits of various types, sugar, flour and eggs. "I don't think I had a chance to tell you. I need to go visit my grandmother soon. She isn't feeling well, so I thought I'd bake her something to make her feel better."

Sora nodded. He remembered that Kairi had moved away from home a long while ago, but was hard pressed to stay away from the only family she knew to be hers for a long time. She frequently visited her grandmother out of a mere whim, but given her apparent illness, of course she would go tend to her.

It made Sora feel even guiltier about lying about his health. "I hope it isn't anything serious. Is she okay?"

Kairi nodded. "It seems to just be a passing bug, but one can never be too careful. Besides," she added, lifting up the bags she was clutching. "It gives me an opportunity to try out some new recipes."

"You are kind of a wizard in the kitchen."

"I can think of at least one person who hasn't complained about a free pastry." She patted his shoulder and winked.

"It's not my fault. I really like delicious things."

"I see. Well, one of my concoctions was going to be for you, but since you all better, it might be necessary anymore."

"What? That's not fair!"

She giggled, but it was just the tiniest bit forced. She began walking then, and Sora was unable to help but trail behind. His guilt wouldn't allow him to walk away, even though all he wanted to do was scoot himself back home and resolve his problems with Riku. He knew that being with Kairi was important though. She was his girlfriend.

"Here, let me," he said quietly, indicating the bags she was holding.

She shook her head and clutched the handles tighter. "You don't have to. You got over your illness. I don't want you to overdo it."

Sora knew he was imagining it, but he could sense that hidden in that simple decline, she didn't believe that he had been sick. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel like she couldn't trust him. Torn between being a gentleman and keeping his cover, his desire to be a proper boyfriend won out, and he insisted, grinning at her as she tentatively handed him the bags.

"Don't worry about it," he said with a grin. "I can handle it."

"Okay, but give them back if you start feeling weak."

"I will."

They began walking in silence, but Kairi kept stealing glances at him. He could feel it. He cleared his throat, and she stopped, but he could tell that she wanted to prod him. He started a mental countdown.

"How did you get so ill anyway?"

He hadn't quite gotten to zero, but close enough. "Huh?"

"How did you get so sick? You're always so healthy." Her eyes narrowed. "Did you accept another dare to do something stupid?"

"I'm not that kind of guy." He ignored a sudden recollection of the time Wakka dared him to eat something they had fished out of the ocean, and the resulting sickness he had sustained. "It was just kind of random, probably from not hanging out with you often enough." He grinned, and she giggled.

"Well, sorry you were so lonely. Poor Sora, all alone in his house with the sniffles," she tugged his cheek playfully and he brushed her hand away in mock annoyance.

"I was _not_ lonely." He said with a laugh. "I was with Riku." And suddenly, Sora felt like he was watching a car accident in slow motion, only he was in the car, and the oncoming car he was slamming into was actually his girlfriend.

Kairi's eyebrow lifted, and something about her face tightened. He had hit a cord, but it seemed to reverberated louder and longer than he had anticipated. Sora wished for nothing more than his swift and silent end. "You were with Riku?" She asked just above a whisper.

"…Uh…no. Well, I was, but not like you think."

Her eyebrows altered position, and the cord he had strummed rang a different note. It was round, pinched, strained. "Eh? And what do I think, Sora?"

Sora gulped. He knew this was a trick question. This was psychological warfare, and being someone who self-admittedly didn't spend a lot of time thinking about things before he said them, she had the clear advantage. He looked at her for a second, and figured that honesty would probably be the best policy. "I think you're thinking that I was hanging out with him to avoid you…?"

Outrage crossed Kairi's face, and he realized he had picked the wrong words to say. "Actually, that's not at all what I was thinking, but now that it was apparently an option, is that what I _should_ be thinking?"

"No! I said that I thought you were thinking that. Not that you should be!"

"Well, since I wasn't thinking what you thought I was thinking, clearly _you're _the one thinking what you thought I was thinking."

"I was, but not because I actually _was _thinking about…wait…what?"

She stared at him, her knuckles turning a whitish from the strength at which she was balling her fists. "Sora, are you trying to avoid me? I didn't think I was the clingy type, but if you think so, then—"

"No, no!" He said shaking his head furiously. He had no idea how this had happened. From this day forward, he was just going to go on lying forever. "I don't think you're clingy. You're perfect."

"Then why were you hanging out with Riku after you told me you were too sick to move out of your bed?"

"Oh…eh," He supposed this was as good of a time as any to start lying, especially since he had plans to keep this up forever. He winced. "You know how Riku is. He never takes 'no' for an answer."

"What?"

"Yeah," he continued, hoping this wouldn't get back to Riku. "He wanted to hang out, but I told him I was sick. He came over anyway and made me…eh…hang out."

"You mean he kept you up even though you should have been getting plenty of rest?" Sora saw her eyes flash red, and was going to slap his hand over his face, but he realized he was still holding her shopping bags. "It's not like that"

"Oh it isn't, is it? I'm not even joking Sora, you two are going to be the death of each other. I have half a mind to go over there and yell at him. You avoiding bed-rest is probably why you were sick for so long. Riku, you little—"

"Don't be mad at Riku," Sora said feeling the color drain out of his face, hoping with all his might that Riku was still inside his house, far, far away from the rage he had accidentally put into Kairi. "He was actually really helpful."

"Uh huh."

"No really! Um…ehh…" He scanned his brain, then his face lit up. "He bent to my every whim. He watched movies with me, cooked for me, and even curled up on the couch with me."

A funny expression crossed Kairi's face at the last one, so Sora quickly added "Because I was cold, of course."

She nodded slowly. "Okay, well, if that's the case then I won't beat him up. You two need to stop hanging around each other so much, especially when one of you is sick. It's almost like you're dating."

The hairs on the back of Sora's neck stood on end. "Haha, what would give you a crazy idea like that?"

"Probably because you two are joined at the hip."

"Then we'd be Siamese twins, Kairi, and dating would be weird."

"Hahaha, I guess you're right. It's just that sometimes you two are so attached, I feel like I should be worried." She smiled at him, an indication that she was joking, but Sora felt overly compelled to make sure it stayed that way.

"Well, don't worry. Riku's completely against dating. He's kind of a stubborn idiot, who's too self-righteous to do what's good for him."

Kairi lifted her eyebrows at him in surprise. "Where did that come from?"

"Eh?" Sora shook his head, knowing better than to drag Kairi into his fight with Riku.

"Nowhere. I was just telling you that you have nothing to worry about."

"That sounded too charged to be coming from nowhere."

Sora really hated the fact that she was too good at reading him. If he forced her to drop the issue, she would probably jump to the complete wrong conclusion…or worse, the _right_ conclusion over what was really going on. He swallowed. "We just had a minor disagreement recently."

"…I sensed that something was wrong."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

She shook her head, and clasped her hands behind her back. "I talked with Riku today. Things are starting to make sense."

"What? You talked to Riku?" He realized his voice was borderline panicked, so he mentally told himself to keep calm. "What did you guys talk about?"

"Just…the state of things." Sora blinked at her, and an expression crossed her face that he had only seen once before:

it was the same expression she had given him when he left her on the island to go after Riku. It was a look of sadness. It was a look of restraint. It was a look of fierce determination to hold something back that she knew she shouldn't ask of him. She pursed her lips together, and Sora felt the need to touch her.

He put his hand on her shoulder and felt bolts of energy shoot through his body. He did not know what it meant, but he knew that it was important.

He shook his head and put his full attention back on Kairi. He mustered up his most dismissive voice possible and spoke. "Don't worry about it. We'll figure it out. It's just that, when you love someone, it's a pain when they do something insensitive when you're only worried about their well being."

"I know the feeling," she said quietly, and Sora felt his heart sink. She smiled sadly at him before he could think of anything to say. "It's okay. I'm glad you love Riku. I love him too. I just wish you'd let me help you when you need it, just like you let Riku. We both want what's best for you. I love you too, you know?"

"I know," he said in almost a whisper. There was something about her statement that sounded wrong. He loved Riku, it was true, and he knew she loved him, too. But the way she said it, it was too simple to describe his relationship. There was too much missing, too much he liked, hated, wanted, and envied about Riku for the words to be accurate. His heart was beating in what he thought was slow motion, sending heated pulses of blood through his body, hammering in his ear drums. It was guilt, longing, sadness, loneliness, and this irrepressible feeling that somewhere, sometime soon he was going to ruin a relationship that he cherished. He closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. He could not let Kairi see him like this. Opening his eyes, be blinked a few times and painted on his most convincing smile. "I'm starting to get hot. Let's get ice cream. I'll buy!"

Kairi stared at him, but nodded slowly, giving an uncomfortable smile as he shifted the bags into one hand and gripped her hand with his free one. She stumbled along after him, Sora grinning like he was the happiest man in the world.

He chose not to think about how she was staring at the back of his head with poorly hidden sadness.

XxX

Kairi didn't seem herself, Sora thought as he licked his ice cream, bag of chips in hand. She had allowed him to buy her the icy treat, even as the stores were closing up to prepare for the impending storm, and he himself had just consumed mass quantities of ice cream with Wakka and Tidus less than a few hours prior. He knew that he didn't want it, and she didn't want it either, but he felt like he needed to reassure her of him, needed her to believe that he was still a part of her life.

He didn't like feeling this way, like he had to prove something that should have otherwise been very obvious. The interaction felt more like a tally to fill some quota rather than something that had been so natural and easy to them before. She seemed to notice it too, and had smiled at him before she excused herself back home. "I have to get back before the storm," she had insisted, gently taking her bags back. "You need to get home soon, too." He remembered the smile on her face as she kissed him gently on the cheek. It seemed so un _Kairi _that it made him feel uneasy. He couldn't help but realize that she hadn't kissed him on the lips. He couldn't help but notice that it felt empty.

He gave his ice cream another long, thoughtful lick before he willed his feet forward. He would probably need to do some mending here and there with Kairi, but the aching in his heart was undoubtedly stemming from the mess he had made with Riku. Once he fixed that, things with he and Kairi would surely fall back into place, since it was the source of the problem in the first place.

He had to keep thinking that way, that there would be an end in sight that a good, solid conversation between himself and Riku would make everything — Sora and Kairi, Kairi and Riku, Riku and Sora, and the sum of their individual beings— better.

What he ended up doing instead of instilling himself with the comfort of having a goal, was adding a mentally crippling amount of pressure…What if he never spoke to Riku ever again? What about Kairi? How would he be able to exist without them?

He shook his head. This had to work. Sure, this was probably going to turn out badly, but at least it was going to _turn out._ Sora didn't know how much longer he could stand sitting around not knowing.

Frowning indignantly—to who he wasn't sure of—he marched up the now wind-blown sand. Riku's house wasn't too far away, but the strength of the wind was making it a bit difficult to keep a straight course. He heard a sharp rapping sound coming from Riku's house; the distinct noise of nails being hammered into wood. The small branches and leaves cutting across his path also did nothing but support the niggling sensation that perhaps adequate shelter was necessary, but he was not about to turn around now, not after he had just bundled up enough courage to go.

The weather would just have to wait.

As his foot landed with a heavy sound on Riku's porch, he glanced briefly behind him to look at the state of the island. The waves were smashing against the shore angrily, and the sky was darkening to a frightening shade of gray. Swiftly, he turned back around to knock on the door, his fists contending with the hammer and nails on the other side.

"Riku, it's me! Open up!"

There was a brief pause in the hammering, but it resumed soon after for two more sharp taps.

"Riku!" He shouted again. "It's Sora!"

The hammering stopped again, then there was a muffled yell. "Sora? What are you doing?"

"I need to talk to you!"

"Are you out of your mind? Do you see this storm rolling in? Go back home! Come back after the storm!"

"Yeah, yeah, the storm. Just open up the door!"

"I can't it's already boarded up."

"No way." Sora grumbled, stepping around the porch to the other side of the house. He was not going to be turned away so easily. Putting his hands on his hips, he stalked to the closest window he could find.

He grinned as he saw a loose nail protruding from the sturdy wood, and the resulting loose corner of which could possibly provide enough leverage to pull the whole thing off. Grinning, he experimentally slipped his fingers beneath the wood and tugged. It wobbled, and a squeak from another loosening nail proved that this could work. He tugged again, harder this time, and grinned as another nail slipped out of place.

Through the window, he heard some questioning shouts from Riku, but after over half of the board had come loose from the window, the shouts stopped. What followed was the sound of nails presumably once in Riku's mouth, hitting the floor.

Grinning wickedly, Sora tugged a final time, and the board slipped off.

"Your window isn't boarded up," he said triumphantly. "I'm coming in."

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading. Chapter 10 will be along shortly. :)<p> 


	10. Speaking

Back with Chapter 10. :) To be honest, I almost forgot to post this chapter! My mistake... Anyway, enjoy, and please don't forget to review!

* * *

><p>"Sora, you're crazy!"<p>

"This should not be news to you at this point in our lives, Riku."

"But…but…"

Ignoring him, Sora lifted his leg and hoisted himself through the glass panes. He fought back a grin as he took in the bewildered expression on Riku's face, but in mid leap, his knee regretfully fell short of clearing the wooden frame and he sailed through it in much the same way as a pigeon flying through a fishing net. Riku stepped back and avoided crashing to the ground, but somehow Sora managed to land on both on his feet and his face. Without missing a beat, though, he cleared his throat and quickly corrected himself, brushing invisible dust particles off of his clothing. The bag of chips he had purchased earlier was safely at his feet.

"You ought to get a step stool or something underneath your window."

"And make my house accessible to people who practice breaking and entering?"

"It was just a suggestion."

Riku stared at him before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. "And you're out of your mind. Go home!"

"After all of that work I did? Did you see that perfect three-point landing? There's no way I'll be able to recreate something like that ever again."

"I think a three point landing only qualifies as perfect if you're an aircraft, otherwise, you're just falling."

"Well, whatever. In either case I landed, and I'm already here. I'm not leaving."

Riku blinked once.

Sora folded his arms.

"Fine," Riku muttered. "What do you want?" Instantly he regretted letting the words leave his mouth.

"I want to talk."

Bristling, Riku absently searched for his hammer on the floor with his foot. He knew that Kairi's advice was to talk, but he didn't want to do it _now_ without ample time to prepare…"Talking, talking. We're talking now. Please talk yourself into going back home before this storm hits."

Sora glanced about the room and noticed that the other windows and door had indeed been reinforced with slabs of wood. A quick look outside the window he had just broken into also supported Riku's concern. The humidity was only getting thicker, and that the wind was getting stronger. "We have plenty of time."

"I wouldn't call this plenty. Please leave."

Sora opened his mouth to reply with something sharp, but Riku was standing partially in the dark, his body obscured by the shadows, a vague outline. The single open window cast a corner of light over the side of Riku's face revealing over grown bangs and a crystal blue eye that was fighting to control some emotion that Sora could not discern. Impatience was present, as always, but there was something else in there, too. Something like hurt, fear, and a touch of shame. Sora swallowed heavily. He would not allow himself to bend so easily. Their friendship depended on it.

"I've been thinking."

The eye closed, swept beneath a fan of dark lashes and bangs that refused to stay kempt as Riku shook his head. "…That's a bad sign."

"Jerk. You told me we couldn't see each other anymore."

"...Yeah."

"That's not really fair, you know."

"Yeah."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "We haven't seen each other in a week, and all you can say is 'Yeah'?"

Riku was having a silent panic attack, the likes of which had the potential to ruin his cognitive function for years to come. Sure Kairi had suggested they talk, but he was certainly not ready to do so _now. _He had to have a little while to prepare… "I could say a lot of things, but 'Yeah' is more convenient, especially since we're not supposed to be talking at all. Better?"

"Not really, no."

Riku paused to absently pull at the hair at the back of his head. "Well, I don't know what you want me to say. I was kind of in the middle of something when you fell through my window."

"Landed. And There's plenty you could say. We've never needed a formal topic to start a conversation before."

"Fine then. If it's so easy, then you do it." The crystalline eye was back, this time punctuated with a sharply curved eyebrow, shrouding whatever Sora had seen earlier with the spirit of competition.

"Fine! I will." He said fixing his face with a determined expression. "…Er…"

"Not so easy is it?"

"No! Just give me a second. Um…how have you been?"

"Great. You?"

"Uh, not too bad I guess."

Silence followed, and Sora swayed awkwardly on his ankles.

"Well, if that's it then…"

"That's not it! That was hardly a conversation."

"Well then, by all means, continue."

Worry flashed over Sora's features but only briefly. He had come over here, in a storm no less, to restore the once easy relationship with his best friend, and he was not going to be deterred by some initial awkwardness. "How…how about this weather?"

"I think we're done here. Please go home. I'll admit that I went a little far earlier, but we can talk later. Preferably after this storm blows over; maybe tomorrow or the day after. I'm really busy right now and—"

"We could talk about _why_ talking isn't so easy anymore," Sora blurted out. "This kind of thing was never a challenge before. Why aren't we on speaking terms anymore? Why can't we still be friends?"

Riku cleared his throat. His stomach felt like it sank down to his feet, and in its place was a large, gaping hole. "You know, I'd really like to catch up, but I need to fix that window, and speaking of which, you should probably do the same to your own house."

"I'm sure I can stand being out of my house for a while. I'll go back later."

"Go back now. I'm not doing anything but putting these boards up, and that includes talking."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Severe storms are hardly a joking matter, Sora." A crack of lightning followed by a low rumble of thunder illustrated his point. "We of all people should know that." He felt Sora's eyes on his back as he turned to grip the edges of the piece of ply wood. He felt his fingers shaking; his hands becoming cold and clammy.

Sora put his hands on his hips, but Riku ignored him. Fitting the nails back between his teeth, he shuffled towards the door. "I've already boarded up the door, but I'll take it down so you don't have to—"

The familiar sound of nails hitting the ground suddenly filled his ears, as Riku had yet again let them fall from his mouth.

Sora hoisted another piece of ply wood from the other side of the room and was moving toward the window. "Then we'll talk after the boards are all up on your windows. Then you can't complain. Bonus points because you can't escape either."

"Sora, I said—"

"I thought you said you couldn't talk while putting these up? By the way, you're going to ruin your walls by doing this on the inside of your house. Take down your door barricade so we can go outside."

Just stared back at him, but found himself nodding silently. Somehow he had lost control of the conversation. Maybe it was because he was secretly glad to see Sora again. It had been a long time, and even under the circumstances, they had been close as friends before his feelings had changed and subsequently ruined everything. Regardless, he trudged over to the door and pulled the chair back that he had holding the base of the large slab of wood in place, then tugged at it until the wood slid freely out of the door frame.

"Awesome. Do you have another hammer?"

"Kitchen drawer, second from the left."

Sora nodded, his face even and unreadable. He disappeared into the kitchen, and Riku released a breath he wasn't aware that he was holding. He tipped his head to the side to see if he could see into the kitchen without having to move his feet, but he heard, rather than saw Sora rummaging around in the drawers. Not sure of what to do at this point, he let out another sigh and waited.

Sora emerged moments later, hammer in hand, looking as if he wasn't sure why Riku was standing inside _his_ house. "Hurry up. Since you're so worried about this storm, I'd assume you'd be the first person outside."

"…You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"Windows don't fix themselves, Riku." He marched to the door and stepped through it. "Hurry up! It's already starting to rain."

Stepping outside into the warm, humid air, Riku could already tell that this was going to have to be a rush job. If the whipping and scattering of shingles across the beach were any indication, the wind had already started doing a sizeable amount of damage. Sora hunched down and picked up some of the shingles, inspecting them for what Riku wasn't sure. Sighing, he set it back into the sand, and muttered something about how he wasn't ready to tackle fixing a roof and then stood up. "Okay, how did you put this up?"

Riku shook his head, then hefted the piece of plywood and fit it into the window frame. "Just hammer the nails into the frames."

"That's it?"

"I'm a simple kind of guy."

"You're a 'jerk' kind of guy."

"Hn."

As Sora hammered the wood, Riku briefly wondered if he could just slip his head in place of the nail. If he was hit in the head hard enough, maybe he could figure out to do, or better yet, forget what had happened altogether, and move on. He looked down, and Sora was attempting to pull one of the bent nails out of the wood, and nearly flew backwards when it slipped free. He sighed.

"We can trade places if you think you're going to kill yourself."

"I thought you said we couldn't talk while we worked on your window?" Sora snapped back, fitting the hammer around the head of another nail.

"Well, if this keeps up, we're going to have to talk about taking you to the hospital."

"I'm fine." He grunted, pulling. Just as the last time, the nail slipped free, and Sora few backwards. Riku rolled his eyes.

Soon, all of the nails had been removed, and Sora wiped a hand over his forehead, simultaneously reaching into his pockets for a new set of nails. Riku said nothing as he began hammering them through the plywood and into his house. Surprisingly, Sora didn't seem nearly as ready to injure himself as he had been when he was taking the damaged nails out, but even more surprising was that Sora was actually following his request: keep silent. Other than a few idle grunts here and there from exertion, Sora was silent, concentrating on the task at hand, pausing only to reach for more nails. It was nearly impossible to keep Sora attentive to any one subject for very long, especially if it didn't directly involve chatter, but here, it was as if he had all of the focus of a real carpenter. Either this project was far more complex than Riku had first thought it to be, or Sora was really invested in getting through this so that they could breach the subject Riku had been avoiding for some time.

His muscles flexed and the board slipped a little, causing Sora to pause to look up. Riku chose not to make eye contact, and instead adjusted the piece of wood back to its previous position. Sora sighed and continued hammering.

As the final corner was secured to the house, Sora dropped the hammer into the sand, put his hands on his hips and grinned triumphantly. "How's that?"

"Looks good," Riku said, curling and uncurling his fingers to rid them of stiffness.

A sudden wind blew through, and for a moment, Sora was convinced that the tree on the other side of the beach had gone completely horizontal. Leaves and debris rushed past them, and a hiss of wood from the surrounding houses was telling him that they had not finished a moment too late, either.

"We should head inside."

"Sounds good."

Retrieving the hammer, Sora and Riku rushed back into the house and closed the door behind them. No sooner did Riku fasten the lock and stand the piece of plywood into the frame did the rain pick up, hammering into the roof like little bullets of water. Sora rubbed his arms and looked at the ceiling with a wince. "Will your roof be okay?"

"Hopefully," Riku sighed, flopping down on the couch. "If it doesn't then getting through this storm remaining dry is going to be difficult."

"Guess so."

There was a crack of thunder in the distance, sounding as if the sky was ripping apart. Sora shuddered involuntarily. Now that the window was out of the way, he had Riku cornered. There was no way that he was going to get out of this now. He picked up his bag of chips from where he left them on the floor and mentally willed his feet forward. Sitting in the chair adjacent to the couch, he let out a sigh and folded his arms.

"Can we talk now?"

"Do we have to?"

"It would be nice."

"That's what you think."

"It is what I think. And if you'd stop being so stubborn, you'd think so, too."

There was another crack of thunder, and Riku turned to him, eyes narrowed. "Fine then. Talk."

"Don't you think we should talk about _why_ we aren't talking first?"

Riku had that look on his face again, the one that made him almost feel guilty for mentioning it at all. He knew that he needed this, though; that _they_ needed this.

"I talked to Tidus and Wakka today," Sora said quietly, folding his hands. "They kind of put things into perspective for me."

Riku let out a dry chuckle. "Wonderful. You're involving people in our problems. I thought you wanted to keep your little issue with Kairi a secret."

"We didn't talk about _that_. Besides, I don't even know what our problem is so it would be kind of difficult for me to tell them about it. We just had a general discussion."

"About what?"

"Well, for one thing, they were kind of surprised that we aren't talking. I kind of don't blame them."

Riku let out another humorless chuckle. "Then what, pray tell, was so riveting? What world-shattering advice did Tidus give to you?"

"Hey, at least Tidus is bothering to talk to me, unlike some people."

"Well, both of them need to mind their own business." He turned away, and even in the dim light, Sora could tell that is face was coloring.

"I didn't give them any details for the last time. They just agreed that we needed to figure out whatever it is that we need to figure out in order to be friends again. I don't like this, Riku. I've gone a year without seeing you before, and I'm not particularly interested in revisiting that, especially when we're both in the same world."

Riku was silent. Sora watched him, his eyes flickering back and forth in thought, his face tightening into a scowl then relaxing into something that resembled despair. It was when He finally put his head into his hands and drew them down his face did Sora realized that Riku had not just been silently avoiding him; he had also spent the time brooding.

"Sora, stop for a second."

"Why?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking over this past week. I haven't _not_ noticed that we haven't been talking, and I'm the last person in the world who would be able to ignore why."

"But—"

"I…" he sighed, and folded his hands, looking down at the floor. "I talked to Kairi earlier."

The color drained out of his face, and Riku couldn't help but let a smug grin cross his face. "What's the matter, Sora? You look nervous. You don't trust me to not spill all of your issues to her? _It's not like she's Tidus, or Wakka, _people who don't even know the meaning of the word secret._ "_

"Well…"

Riku waved him away. "Relax. She knows as little about our situation as Tidus and Wakka do." He narrowed his eyes and checked his facial expression, wondering if that was a baseline that both of them could be comfortable with. Judging from the deep breath that Sora took, it was.

Suddenly Sora slapped his hand to his face and groaned. "Argh, that's right. I have a really, really bad feeling about this."

"What? I told you I didn't tell her anything."

"I know. It's not that. It's just that…I talked to Kairi earlier today, too. Something seemed kind of off with her today, specifically after she mentioned talking …eh…to…well…you…"

Riku looked partially offended, so Sora waved his hands in front of his face. The two of them were finally starting to talk. If they stopped now over something inconsequential, he didn't think they would ever be able to get back to normal. "No, no. I'll explain it later. Please continue."

Riku's eyes narrowed anyway, and he crossed his arms. "Humph, stop worrying about your precious dating situation. I can't believe you think I'd do anything to mess up something so important to you. I'm a jerk, not a total jackass."

"That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that I think that she may be upset over something related. It could have totally been my fault. I don't know!"

"No, you're saying that you think I said something to upset her. Well, for your information, she was fine when I left her house, so whatever you said to her was the reason she was supposedly upset." Riku had lied just a tiny bit, but what Sora didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"Okay, fine! It very well could have been me!"

"Well, that's what you should have said in the first place."

Sora narrowed his own eyes. As much of an enigma that Riku was from time to time, he was never more transparent than when he was arguing. Sora could see that he was only perpetuating this seemingly petty conversation to avoid the big issue, something he would have only understood through years of knowing him. Other than being irritated that Riku was still resorting to the somewhat shallow defense mechanism, he was glad. This meant he was getting somewhere; that Riku was feeling something other than the dispassionate complacence he exuded the majority of the time.

It was fine. If Riku wanted to play that game, then he would gladly play, too.

"Well what is it you said to her," Sora said, intentionally adding a bit of an accusatory edge to his voice. He generated the desired response as Riku appeared very near the point of boiling over. Sora would have been the tiniest bit alarmed if he didn't think that in the end all of this would be worth it.

"I went over there to help you."

At this Sora bristled, and not in the way he had planned to fake. "Well, how do I know that you did? What did you tell her?"

Riku crossed his arms. "What do you think I told her?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking!"

Riku just stared back at him silently. Sora groaned.

Sora then realized the very real possibility that Riku may not have _intentionally_gone over there to break he and Kairi up, but it very well could have been the result of Riku's sometimes less than tactful word choices. "Tell me exactly what you said! Word for word!"

"No. I don't remember."

"Don't be like that. You do too. Did you tell her I can't kiss? Did you tell her that I was practicing on you?" A look of utter horror crossed his face. "Did you tell her I was dating you on the side?"

Riku looked smug. "I told you it would be cheating on her."

"It wasn't cheating! We've already gone through this."

"Then why are you worried about her finding out?"

"Because you have a way of telling people things that just kind of makes them…mad."

"Well, if I were her, I'd be mad no matter what you told me. Cheating is cheating."

"It wasn't cheating! Now answer me. Did you tell her or not?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Don't be an idiot. I wouldn't tell her about something I was vehemently against in the first place. It makes me look desperate."

"It doesn't make you look desperate. It makes you look like you're trying to find a solution to a problem and making a situation work."

"Really now? And how does dating someone who has a girlfriend who he clearly loves indicate anything other than desperation, Sora? I refuse to be that person. Not while you love Kairi."

Sora chewed his bottom lip. "I love you too, Riku. I can't imagine life without you, and would do anything for you, even when you are being a jerk. I don't know why you refuse to see that."

A brief flash of intense hurt flashed across Riku's face, but vanished before Sora had a chance to respond to it. "Sora, please stop saying things like that."

"No. I won't stop saying it. It's true. I love you. I love Kairi. I want all three of us to be happy." Sora looked down at the ground and sighed. This was not going well. If Riku could only see what he felt, if he could somehow grab him by the ears and shove his face deep down in his heart so he could truly understand. "I want my relationship with Kairi to work, but I want my relationship with you to work, too."

"Forgive me if I don't see why it matters."

"Because, Riku, in case you've forgotten, I care about how you feel. You're upset."

Riku was silent for a second, then opened his mouth to speak. "Sora, let me ask you a question." The look on his face was unreadable, a mixture of curious emptiness. He was hollow, unpresumptuous, and filled with a genuine need to know something very important without a preconception of what the answer would be.

It made Sora uncomfortable. "What?"

"Why are you here?"

Sora blinked, then shifted his eyebrows downward in a pronounced "V." "What? What kind of question is that? You already know why I'm here! I'm here to fix our friendship. Have you forgotten in the short time we've been standing here?"

Riku shook his head, that same pensive look remaining. "That's not what I mean. Are you really mad at me because you think I ruined your relationship with Kairi?"

"Yes, I really am! You should have seen her face earlier today! I thought she was going to cry!"

"Then why are you here?"

"What? Riku, we've already gone over—"

"Then why are you _here_, Sora? You said Kairi looked like she was going to cry earlier. Why are you over here with _me_ if your girlfriend is so emotional right now? Why aren't you with _her_?" The question was genuine, not accusatory or hopeful. It was flat, hollow, neutral. Riku's face expressed that of interest purely for the sake of knowledge, and with such purity, Sora was at a loss for how to respond.

Why _was_ he here talking with Riku, holed up in a house with windows that only had a small chance at surviving the storm hissing and clawing at the thin reinforcements they had put up? Why didn't he follow Kairi home, watch over her, hug her, kiss her, and hold her hand until whatever was bothering her went away?

He was here.

He was with Riku.

He opened his mouth to speak. He had obviously been trying to mend his relationship with Riku. Anyone would do the same for their best friend. But Kairi was his girlfriend, and her emotions were arguably more immediate than Riku's. Riku had spent years perfecting sulking, but Kairi, ever a concentration of radiance, rarely lost her shine even during the most vexing circumstances. Riku could stand to stew for a few days—and clearly had, since they hadn't spoken for a week. But Kairi was fragile, marred by years of being separated from her only friends, and shrouded in constant amnesia about her former life. Sora closed his mouth.

Kairi could break.

Riku would not.

But whose living room was he standing in?

"I'm here because…you talked to Kairi."

"Which you knew before you came over."

"…Right. I came to clarify."

"Why with me and not Kairi? I obviously can't hurt my own feelings by what I say."

Sora began worrying his bottom lip with his teeth and knitted his eyebrows as a crack of thunder sounded. "I'm here because I…Because I…"

Riku folded his arms and looked at him with steel eyes that made Sora's knees buckle and his heart stop cold in his chest. He could tell just by the look on his face that something was about to change them both.

"Sora, I asked you a week ago if you loved me like you love Kairi."

"…I remember."

"I want to ask you another question."

"Riku, I—"

"I already know you don't love me like you love her, but…" He paused, and tried to cover up an emotion Sora had never seen on his face before. "But…do you love me like a friend loves another friend? Like best friends should love each other?"

Sora's heart resumed beating, but it sped up, hammering against his ribs like a bird fighting against the bars of its cage. He knew his answer, and he knew Riku did, too. "No," he said quietly.

Riku nodded, and Sora hoped with all of his being that he wouldn't say anything more. He hoped, because he knew that there was something lying beneath all the adoration, and concern and _love_ of his friend; that they shared a bond that was deeper than Wakka and Tidus' friendship, deeper than the understanding between The King, Donald and Goofy, deeper than the unconditional compassion between the Beast and Belle.

It was deeper than the love he would have had for any normal best friend.

And it might have been deeper than the love he felt for Kairi.

He felt the color drain out of his face, and mentally begged Riku to keep staring at him like that; to keep staring at him and staring at him, and staring at him forever and ever into eternity, as long as he just kept from asking the question that was imbedded in both of their minds like some kind of electric, viral spore.

He swallowed heavily and felt a lump in his throat, and pressure behind his eyes. Riku silently watched him, and let out a breath that seemed to relieve some of the tension in the room.

Sora spoke first. He cleared his throat. "I think…I think I need to go home and think for a while."

Riku's eyes were even. He seemed to understand, and it was that understanding, Sora was certain, that made him feel the way he did in the first place.

Glad that the silence remained intact on the other end, Sora kept muttering to himself anyway, just in case. Riku was still a jerk after all. He swallowed again, and angled himself to the door. "I really think I need to go home. You were right. There is a pretty dangerous storm rolling in, and my house will have sand in it by the end of the night."

Riku watched quietly.

Sora picked his way around the couch and felt his breath catch in his throat. He was glad for the dark, because he wasn't sure what facial expression he was making. "Right, and you were busy too, and look how I just barged in without thinking about how busy you probably were, with the windows, I mean. I helped, but you never know, you might have done a better job without me, and…"

Silence.

Sora nodded to himself, and rubbed the back of his neck, edging towards the door, his feet heavy and the inside of his body cold. He couldn't stand to be there anymore. Not while he was like this. Not while he didn't understand. He held back a hiccup, and felt his fingers glide along the door frame.

"Sora," Riku finally spoke, and Sora felt all of the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end. He scrambled for the door knob, but felt only the wall beneath his fingertips.

"Sora," Riku tried again, and Sora scrambled faster, his fingers only finding the wall where he knew the doorknob used to be. Frustrated, he had to force himself from trying to tear the wall down with his bare hands.

"Sora!" Riku finally said loud enough to draw his attention. Sora's whipped his head around, and painted a frown on his face when he knew deep down, it was fear that was welling around inside him. "What?" he said challengingly, revealing a bit of that fear, but concealing enough of it through tightened lips. He knew what was coming. He knew he had to face it. But he would not let Riku see the fear in his heart, or the thick wave of guilt rolling about within him, warning him that things were no longer the same.

Riku rubbed the back of his own head. "You uh…you can't leave."

"What?"

Riku cleared his throat and looked pointedly at his own feet. "You can't leave. The door…it's…"

A look of horror spread across Sora's face, because it was then that he realized that he wasn't scrambling against the _wall_, but rather, the plywood that he and Riku had put over the door.

To reinforce it from the storm outside.

The storm that was threatening to tear the beach apart.

The storm that would definitely do the same to him if he decided to venture out in it.

"Oh." He said quietly. Thunder rumbled outside, and the sound of pelting rain on the roof above did little to fill the awkward silence that was spreading between them.

"Well…" Sora began, scooting away from the door. "That's unfortunate."

"Uh, if you need to go…think or whatever," Riku tried, feeling just as awkward as Sora did. "You can go sit in the kitchen or something…I mean…"

"The kitchen?"

"Yeah, the…"

"Okay, yeah…yeah, I can go in the…"

"The kitchen."

"Right. Right. Okay, I'm going."

"Okay. Er, I'll see you, then…?"

"Right."

"Right."

* * *

><p>Please remember to submit feedback. I'd really appreciate it!<p> 


	11. The Truth

Okay, I'm asking you to trust me with this one...

XxX

Riku strolled around the living room, refusing to think. He absolutely _refused._ Gritting his teeth, he shuffled himself to the other side of the couch and back again, careful to avoid furniture in the dark. He wasn't completely convinced that the power hadn't gone out, but didn't want to test it, given that the light switch was near the kitchen doorway.

Besides, he rather enjoyed the darkness. It obscured things he'd rather not see, namely, Sora pacing and rattling around in the kitchen.

He forced his eyes away from the doorway to which they had traveled and resumed his short trek around the perimeter of his living room. If Sora and he were going to…

_No_, he told himself, rubbing his eyes for good measure. He was not going to think of Sora. He was not going to think of himself. He was not going to think of anything that could possibly be emotionally destructive, not while he was unsure, and not while everything was so off-set.

He rolled his eyes to the ceiling as he marched around, considering the patterns in the wood, the beat of the raindrops on the roof, the creaks that indicated a weakening board somewhere. The wind was howling outside, and he knew that the shingles on the outside would have to be replaced. There was probably a mountain of wet, sticky sand mounded up on his porch, and if the rain was continuing to pick up the way it was, the whole ocean was likely to wind up in his living room.

Pleased that he had done a good job distracting himself by focusing on practical, real, and tangible things, he spared a glance at the clock.

Well, two and a half minutes was still rather impressive, he thought to himself as he shuffled to a corner opposite where he was standing and let out a deep breath. He was kind of anxious that Sora was trapped in his house, evidence of it clearly illustrated through is borderline frantic pacing around the room. If the rain wasn't beating steadily against the roof like some kind of rhythmic lullaby, he was sure he was going to come just as undone as the beach.

There was a part of him that was glad, though. He was glad that the two of them were forced to make some kind of decision about where the two of them stood. They could not spend days apart holed up in their rooms thinking about what was, and as much as he hated confronting problems of the heart, he was glad that some kind of resolution would have to be made.

Being friends didn't work anymore.

Dating didn't work.

Avoiding each other didn't work for long either.

He supposed that the two of them would have to find some other way of _being_; something that worked for both of them, no matter what it may mean.

Then Riku realized he was doing exactly what he said he wasn't going to do, and continued to pace up and down the span of the living room.

Sora on the other hand was struggling to stand still and keep himself focused, not keep his mind off of what Riku was so afraid to think about.

He had resolved to sit at one of the stools nestled just beneath Riku's bar counter, but he quickly found himself teetering on the legs, swinging madly about until he was sure he would topple over. Cracking his skull open on the floor would be terribly inconvenient, and he doubted that an ambulance would be interested in saving him when the beach was being torn apart one grain of sand at a time.

He pried himself off of the stool and began meandering around the kitchen.

Things were weird. He didn't even have to be in the situation to realize that was the case. Anyone breathing in the air could feel how awkward it was, and with the addition of the two of them being in completely separate rooms during a storm that should have otherwise encouraged hours of mischief and childish practical jokes on each other, Sora himself was surprised that he hadn't imploded yet.

He craned his neck to see through the open door and found that Riku was having just as hard of a time keeping still as he was. He seemed to be pacing around the room, pausing momentarily to think before resuming a rhythmic strut about the space. He looked almost like a father in the maternity ward, and in a twisted way it kind of amused Sora that he was playing the child-bearing mother.

Well, with note that the mother was severely unsure of what to even think anymore, and that the child was supposed to be some kind of miracle solution that hadn't shown sight of itself even with a full week of brooding.

He ran a hand through his mop of unruly brown hair and flopped down into a chair at the kitchen table.

_Okay,_ he thought. He needed to sit down and think this through.

He drummed his fingers on the top of the table and then his mind promptly went blank. Sighing in frustration, he allowed his forehead to replace his fingertips and tapped it once, twice against the flat surface.

Sure, he knew that he loved Riku more than he loved a regular friend. Not to discredit his friendship with Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie, but it wasn't their houses he was stranded at trying to overcome a resolve-shattering relationship crisis.

Then again, it wasn't Kairi's house he was at either, which why this was such a problem in the first place. He considered that maybe Riku just had more personal magnetism than either of them had realized, but that wouldn't explain why he had so willingly gone to such as an extreme as to offer to _date_ him, and subsequently not tell Kairi about it.

Kairi was his girlfriend, of this he was sure. He loved her just like he was supposed to. He liked walking along the beach with her, holding her hand, curling his arms around her shoulders, and making her laugh in that light, airy way that made the whole world—all of them—seem like a better place to live. He didn't enjoy doing any of those things with Riku.

He nodded. He had enjoyed forcing Riku to watch that movie with him, but other than the satisfaction of winning, he didn't like doing those kinds of things with him. He liked sparring matches. He liked racing him from one side of the island to the other. He liked teasing him, watching his face change from its usual flat affect to rare flickers of emotion—usually anger. He liked playing video games with Riku, and wrestling. He liked making Riku cook for him. He liked watching thunderstorms with Riku, knowing that both of them were acutely aware of each other's fear of the Darkness coming back. He liked that Riku understood him better than anyone he had ever known. He liked that he knew the same about Riku, knew him better than he knew himself, and exploited it. He liked arguing with Riku. Oddly, he didn't mind kissing him either. He liked sitting in this storm with Riku, being stuck in a house with Riku, and even kind-of-liked being locked in this conflict with Riku, because he knew that eventually, the two of them would work it out. They always did. He just had to figure out how.

Sora sighed as the storm raged on outside, the clattering of the house rhythmic with the sound of Riku's footsteps on the floor in the other room. Riku indeed. There were a whole lot of things he liked doing with Riku. There were a whole lot of things he liked doing with Kairi, too. He was worried though, because he didn't know with who he liked to do things with better.

He would do anything for either of them. His heart hurt when either of them were upset. He liked spending time with both of them, and for a time, he had even enjoyed dating both of them. He could not handle being stuck in this awkward limbo any longer. As much as he didn't want to reject feelings, as much as it hurt to know that he would be the cause of someone's broken heart, he knew that not making a definitive decision would only hurt all three of them more in the long run. He had to find some standard of comparison, something about one over the other that would make his heart flutter, his mind clear, and his decision obvious.

He heard a clap of thunder outside, and an idea occurred to him. He was instantly positive that Riku wouldn't easily agree to it, but he hadn't really been cooperative up to this point anyway, so he supposed that was only a small matter. He tapped his fingers on the table a few times to mull his idea over, just to make sure that there would be no suitable alternative. It was drastic, but things had been rather dire lately, and he was kind of willing to do anything shy of cloning himself and giving one of him to both Kairi and Riku In fact, the only reason why he wasn't considering _that _option was because he just happened to be a little short on cloning machines. Well, that, and Riku and Kairi would probably be really, really mad at him.

He stood from the table and folded his arms, peeking through the threshold of the door.

"Riku," Sora said quietly, partly hoping that Riku hadn't heard him. The footsteps in the other room stopped, confirming that he had, and that maybe Riku was spying on him a little bit. He gritted his teeth and prepared for the immense amount of convincing he would have to do. Riku was never more stubborn than when he was emotionally invested in something, and now, if ever, was one of those times.

"Riku," he said louder this time, then crossed the threshold, trying to maintain some semblance of bravery. Riku looked at him from the other corner of the room, his head tilted to one side, casually. The strained circles underneath his eyes gave him away, though, and Sora couldn't help but feel bad. It was important that the two of them get through this. It was important because he cared about both of them. He never wanted to see Kairi give him that look again, and he never wanted Riku to look so strained. With conviction, he marched himself over to Riku's couch and sat down.

"We should sit," he said tentatively. Riku gave him a funny look, but nodded, following him to the couch and sitting down as well.

"Did all that knocking around in my kitchen really help you?" The question sounded just as casual as the expression Riku had put on his face, but Sora knew he was just trying to poorly conceal his nervousness. It kind of made him like Riku the tiniest bit more.

"Yeah, actually it did. Your kitchen is very feng shui."

"Huh, I never knew."

"Yup."

"Huh."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Okay, well, I was thinking—"

Panic flashed across Riku's face. "Oh yeah?"

"Right. I was thinking." He looked into Riku's eyes and felt horrible. He didn't know how to form words to make that expression disappear. He didn't like it. He decided to explain first, thinking it might help. "Riku, our relationship is very important to me. So is my relationship with Kairi."

"I understand."

"No, you don't." He shook his head. "I can't explain what it means to me in words. I could talk for days, and it still wouldn't be enough. That's why I want to make sure that I'm doing the right thing for both of us. For Kairi, too."

The color was steadily draining out of Riku's face, and Sora's mouth was going dry. Sometimes he wished he was more eloquent. Now would have been one of those times. "This is why I—"

Riku looked like he was absolutely positively going to break into a thousand and one pieces with little hope of being put back together. Sora couldn't tell if it was because he was scared, or if he just didn't want to talk about anything so emotionally charged. Judging from how Riku usually acted, either possibility was equally likely, but he was inclined to think it was the former. Sora blamed himself for this, because if he had just been better at talking things through, then he probably could have avoided most of this mess in the first place.

"Wait, let me try explaining it like this," Sora said, fiddling and stumbling over his words, selecting carefully, yet not carefully enough. "I'm trying to ask you something so that you won't get mad at me."

Riku sighed and shook his head. "Sora, you don't have to—"

"Yes I do. It's important."

"I know. I know this is important, I just…" he looked away and ran a hand through his hair and sighed again. "Look Sora, I really like you. You're the best thing that's happened to me on this island. Without you and Kairi, I would have gone insane long before what happened with the Organization and the Heartless, and you even managed to save me a few times. We've been through everything together, more than what most best friends could even handle, and yet we still hang out with each other on the weekends, and confide in each other for personal problems. You're better than my best friend, Sora. I really mean that."

Sora felt his face heat up. "Riku, I…"

"Just a minute. I know you were starting, but I just…I really can't let you…just…" He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, the skin on his neck prickling. "For a while now I've come to like you in a way that isn't friendship, and judging by how well last week went, it's not been something I'm able to just ignore. I'm sorry for that."

Sora looked at him silently, trying to will his eyes to convey anything but pity. He knew Riku hated pity and that would only make things worse. Apparently it worked, because he continued.

"That being said, I value our friendship more than anything else, Sora. It was awful being enemies, and somehow I don't think I could handle it if we changed our dynamic again."

"Wait…"

"Sora," Riku said looking him in the eye. "I don't want our friendship to change. Not because of the Heartless, and not because of me." Riku looked like he was going to be violently ill, and Sora felt like the ceiling had just crashed on top of him.

Riku was lying, more specifically, he was lying to himself. He was pretending that if he didn't have a definitive answer that somehow all of the feelings would just go away. Sora knew it.

And Sora also knew that the feelings wouldn't just go away. They would stay and collect in his heart, creating a poison stronger than anything that Xemnas and the Organization could have ever cultivated. It would break them apart, tear them to shreds, and leave them raw and ragged. They would be worse than enemies. They would be pretending.

Sora refused to let Riku and himself come to such a state, not after everything they had been through.

Sora shook his head and grabbed Riku's hand. "I value our friendship, too Riku, which is why I refuse to let either of us get away without making a definitive decision about how we stand."

"What?"

"I'm serious. I'm not going to let you go on wondering how I feel about you. I won't do that to you, and I won't do that to Kairi either."

"Sora, did you hear a word I just said? We can just act like none of this ever happened. I want us to be friends. You can love Kairi. That_ is_ a definitive decision."

"No it's not. That's the definitive decision you want without actually having to do any real investing. That will probably work for about two days before we wind up not talking like we did the last time."

"No we won't," Riku said quietly. "We won't end up like we were last time. I'll try harder to—"

"If you're going to end that sentence with 'hide how I feel,' then I'm going to punch you," Sora said with a scowl. "I can't ask you to do that. It's cruel. As your friend, the best thing I can do for you is give you an answer."

"Sora," Riku said again, looking exhausted. "I already have your answer. You told me already. What I asked you earlier wasn't fair. I shouldn't have—"

"What you asked me earlier was a completely valid question. The fact that I had to actually think about it proves it."

"Sora, why do we have to do this…?"

"Because," Sora said gripping Riku's hand tighter. "This is important. Now, shut up and let me ask you a question."

Riku sighed, looking tortured, but Sora ignored him. "Okay, it's more of a favor than a question, and keep in mind that it will just be easier in the long run if you just agree without asking me for an explanation."

"That seems to be your usual preference."

"Good! Then we're on the same page."

"I have a truly, truly bad feeling about this."

"That's fine. I feel good enough about it for the both of us. Now, here's what I need you to do…and remember, you aren't supposed to ask me for an explanation."

"Hurry up and tell me."

"Will you do it?"

"Maybe."

"I need an unarguable 'yes,' from you."

"Fine. Yes. Hurry up and tell me what it is."

Sora looked at Riku.

Riku looked at Sora.

Sora took a deep breath and averted his gaze, already knowing how his request would be received. He ignored it though. He needed this. "…I need you to kiss me."

Riku was in mid blink when the words tumbled out of his mouth, and his eyes stayed closed for a long period of time, to the point that Sora thought that Riku might have been meditating.

That guess was only brief, because before long, Riku was staring at him as though he had just suggested Riku try to fit his head in the shower drain. "What?"

Sora scowled. "That had better not be a seeking-clarification 'what,' Riku. I told you to just do it."

"But…but…"

"No buts. You are not allowed to ask why."

"Fine. Then it was an 'I-better-not-have-heard-you-right' what."

"You're not allowed to ask that kind either."

"Sora, you can't just ask something so…out of left field without an explanation!"

"I can, and I did. I need to test something. Pucker up." Sora leaned forward, and Riku stopped him by grabbing his shoulders.

Riku was certain he was starting to lose some of his hair. "Sora, you've lost your mind. My kitchen is not Feng shui. It's full of poisonous miasma."

"I thought long and hard about this. It will make sense later, honest."

Riku looked outraged. "You were in there for fifteen minutes. Twenty tops. If this is what you came up with, you need to sit in there for another three days. The answer is no."

"You already agreed. I just need for you to kiss me. We've done it a lot of times. This should be a piece of cake by now."

Riku's cheeks flamed red. "That's not the problem. You have to at least tell me what it is you're testing. Whatever it is, it can't possibly make any sense."

"It does. And me explaining the test will defeat the purpose of you not asking what I want to kiss you for."

"Sora, you can't do this to me," he sounded strained, pityingly strained. "Things have been so weird lately, I need something to make sense. _This _does not make sense!"

"Just trust me."

"No!"

"Riku, stop being stubborn and just kiss me."

"I'm not being stubborn. I'm being normal. I'll admit, I have done some mean things to you in the past, but this is unfair! I refuse to do something so bizarre without some idea as to why. You aren't the slightest bit concerned that this might _confuse_ things?"

Sora shook his head definitively. "If I tell you, you're going to try to convince me I'm wrong."

"Probably."

"Then you see why I'm not going to do any further talking. The longer you prolong this situation, the longer you prolong this conversation, which I know you don't want to have. Besides, if I tell you, you'll contaminate my results with experimental bias."

Riku stared at Sora again.

Sora stared back at again, this time with a look of determination that crept up Riku's bones and burned like frostbite. "You're doing it," Sora said quietly, eyes unwavering. "You don't have a choice in the matter."

Riku felt like a shock collar had been wrapped around his neck, like his hands and feet had been bound to some mysterious wall, and that his voice was stuck in his throat. Some invisible puppeteer forced his head to bob forward, and the smile that bloomed across Sora's face was positively evil. Riku felt his stomach drop at the thought of what he was about to agree to.

"Come on, kiss me!"

Riku groaned inwardly, then outwardly as he felt his body moving to close the space between them.

Sora put a hand on his chest, and Riku stopped. Sora was looking at him crossly.

"What now? You asked me to kiss you and I am."

"I want you to kiss me like you mean it," Sora muttered. "I forgot to add that part."

"Sora, you're seriously killing me here."

"Just do it. I want you to act like you're telling me how you feel about me. With your lips…except you're not allowed to talk."

"Why?"

"Stop asking me questions. I'll do the same. Think of it like you owe me for not talking to me for a week."

"Sora—"

"I'm waiting!"

Riku sighed. For several reasons he was glad that he lived alone, and that no one else was around to witness all of his shame. He was being asked to splay himself for Sora to see, show him emotions he wasn't even comfortable telling himself, through _kissing._ He supposed he should have been grateful for not being asked to explain himself with words, but in so many ways this was worse. Here there was nowhere to hide, no one to ask for help. He was alone, and he was being asked to give up everything. What could Sora possibly be thinking?

Sora looked at him expectantly, eyes brimmed with impatience, but there was something else there that made Riku wish Sora weren't so transparent. It made him wish that Sora could just let him go on believing that this was all some ruse to punish him, that he could keep his walls up and go on pretending that what he felt wasn't real.

But Sora was as easy to read as a coloring book, and right now, he was forcing Riku's walls down. The same eyes that were barking at him to hurry him along, were whispering to him softly, sweetly. They were holding his hand and ebbing away at the fear that was threatening to break him. They were speaking.

'Trust me.'

Riku closed his eyes and closed the space between their lips, satisfied that when he met Sora's lips, he hadn't accidentally connected with his chin. If Sora really wanted him to kiss him like he meant it, then he would be unspeakably embarrassed if _that_ was what he had to show for himself. Carefully, he took Sora's hand in one of his, and wound their fingers together, squeezing.

He cupped his other hand around Sora's jaw line, gently guiding their faces together, stopping just short of his hairline. He wanted to show more; so much more.

Sora's lips were soft, perfect. Everything about him was. From the gentle hum of his breath, to the delicate, tickly way his shirt was brushing against Riku's arm. He brushed the tip of his tongue against the underside of Sora's upper lip, an unspoken request to give Sora everything, everything he asked for and more. Sora didn't hesitate, evidence of the importance of whatever this experiment was supposed to prove, and Riku accepted with all his heart. He touched their tongues together, a careful, slow, and gentle dance that was patient and meaningful. He wasn't kissing Sora just to be kissing him. He was defining himself, his feelings, and everything that had been himself.

Sora felt it too, felt how nervous and scared Riku was, how much this meant. He squeezed his hand tighter and pulled him in closer, holding Riku's shoulder with all the assurance and understanding he could muster. For this Riku was grateful, because he didn't know if he could handle sharing so much of himself all alone.

Sora on the other hand was struggling to keep himself calm. He knew that Riku would be adverse to the idea, possibly to the point that he would just fake his way through the whole ordeal and demand that Sora walk back to his house, even in the storm. It had looked to be that way for a long time, too.

But once he had convinced Riku to kiss him, kiss him like he really meant it, Sora felt as though he had just been hit over the head with an electric pole, wood strong and sturdy, wires still buzzing with life.

His eyes snapped open when Riku grazed his tongue over the roof of his mouth, and he had to stop himself from gasping in shock. He felt like he had just fallen off of a cliff, falling and floating simultaneously in a space so full of love and longing and pain that he wasn't sure it was space at all. Riku must have loved him for a long time to harbor feelings this strong. It was incomprehensible. He wanted to smile and cry at the same time.

Riku was kissing him deeply then, and Sora responded accordingly, reassuring him, coaxing him, understanding him. Gears of various types were starting to click into place, and he felt ashamed that this felt so natural, so perfect. His heart was beating images of Kairi into his mind. She was looking at him in the same way she had when she left on the beach that afternoon.

Riku soon felt that he had given all that he could give. He slowed the kiss and brushed the underside of Sora's Jaw with his knuckles before pulling away, breathless and spent. He didn't meet Sora's eyes, and instead stared pointedly at his own lap, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth.

Sora was silent.

Riku grunted, folding his arms. He felt his face heating up and cursed his pale skin for failing to conceal the very rare blushes that bloomed there. "Well," he said grumpily. "Did that help you with your experiment, or do you need me to do something else degrading? Should I let you parade me around outside with a dog collar and leash now? How about I fetch a stick and bring it back to you in my teeth?"

Sora didn't say anything, his own head down.

Riku was shocked to see a tear roll down his cheeks and drop into his hands. "Uh, no," he said with a sniff. "The experiment was successful. I understand now."

Riku felt his insides knot up at the sight of the tear, and felt that he just might start tearing up himself. He nodded and forced himself to shove down any wavering in his voice. "Good," he said airily. The walls were easy enough to reform, the coldness was creeping back into his veins and it was welcome. "As you can see, I was right all along. Now can we please just go back to being friends now?"

Sora shook his head as another tear rolled down his face. He grabbed Riku's arm and shook his head harder. "We can't."

Riku stiffened. The tears that were threatening to fall down his cheeks were dangerously close to doing so. "Why not?" He tried to laugh, but it didn't hide the crack in his voice. "Did I ruin us for good this time?"

Sora sniffed again, and fell forward, face buried in Riku's chest, arms circled tightly around his waist. "Riku, we can't be friends anymore."

"I get it. It's okay."

"No, you don't get it." He shook his head, staining Riku's shirt with tears. "You don't get it at all. I can't…I just can't…"

"Sora, it's okay." Riku said trying only half heartedly to pull Sora off of him. If his face stayed buried in his chest, then he wouldn't be able to see the tears streaming down his face, and the obvious hurt in his eyes.

"I can't go back to being friends with you Riku. I—"

"You don't have to—"

"Shut up. I do have to." He looked up at Riku with tears streaming down his face, eyes red rimmed and determined. "We can't be friends because I love you."

* * *

><p>Please remember to submit a review! :)<p> 


	12. Explanation

Thanks to everyone who offered feedback! :) We're headed towards the home stretch with this story, as this is the second to last chapter! Thank you for reading so far. I appreciate it!

* * *

><p>There was an awful crashing noise outside, an indication that somewhere, something important had been struck by a piece of debris outside. It could have been a light post. It could have been a cart left unsecured by a vendor. It could have been the entire back half of Riku's house, for all Riku cared, because right then he wasn't even sure he wasn't dreaming.<p>

"What?" he said hoarsely. "What did you say?"

Sora sniffed and rubbed his eyes, eyebrows slanting downward, shoving him lightly with the heel of his hand. "You need to work on your listening skills."

Riku blinked slowly. "I'm sorry, it's just that I'm not..."

"Sure you heard me right? Sure you're not dreaming? Sure that I'm not messing with you?"

"Yeah. That."

"Well, you can go ahead and erase that out of your mind. I think it's pretty hard to mistake what I told you, and if you were dreaming, we'd be in a place more romantic than in your living room in the middle of a storm, unless of course this was a nightmare, in which case I _would _be messing with you. Although…"

Riku let out a slow breath, not sure if he should reach up and wipe the tears off of his face or just sit there with a stupid look on his face. He chose the latter, studying Sora as he seemed to fume over something deeply perplexing. Riku's mind cast a filmy haze over everything he saw; movements were in slow motion, from the blink of his own eyes, to the twitch of impatience in Sora's eyebrows as he regarded Riku's scrutinizing gaze.

Riku swallowed slowly. "Am I allowed to ask you questions yet? I have two."

Sora grimaced. "I guess at this point it's fair. Keep them brief."

"Great." His voice had yet to retain its previous strength, but he pressed forward anyway, knowing that no physical inability could hold back his need to know. "My first question is how you…came to this conclusion."

"You technically didn't ask a question, Riku."

"It's in there."

This seemed to ignite a fuse. "Why do you always have to be so skeptical of these things? Why can't you just go with it?"

Riku stared at Sora evenly, and found that his voice was finding some of its previous strength. "This comes from years of hanging out with you, and understanding how your mind works. Sometimes you come up with some…interesting, yet groundless ideas."

"So you don't trust me?"

Riku stared at him pointedly. "You tried to date me so that we could stay friends."

"Hey! That was a good idea."

"…This is why I question your judgment."

Sora folded his arms and pouted. "You know what? This is your problem. If you weren't so guarded all the time, we could move onto more pressing issues, but no. You always have to question everything I say. All you do is resist, resist, resist, even if it's something you _want._ This is a habit of yours that I'm going to take great pleasure in breaking. _Great_ pleasure."

Riku allowed a small smile to crack. "You're stalling. Probably because you think I'm not going to like what you're going to say. Answer my question so we can get this over with."

"…You're good."

"I always have been."

Sora pushed his fingers together and closed his eyes, sighing. "When you asked me why I was at your house and not Kairi's, it really bothered me that I couldn't come up with an answer right away. At first, I thought 'duh, I'm here because something is wrong with us. What a moron!' Then I remembered that there was something wrong with Kairi, too…which is why this is a problem."

Riku nodded.

"I did some thinking about everything, all the stuff that makes us, _us,_ and everything just kind of…lined up."

Riku lifted an eyebrow. "It lined up."

"It lined up. I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth."

"Sora, if you're just telling me all of this to make me feel better—"

"I'm not. Do you even realize how many problems this is going to cause? I would _not_ do this to you…to _us_ if I wasn't completely serious." He seemed to consider something and the same look of frustration bloomed across his face. "It was okay before…when it wasn't real. Now I'm…now it's different."

"And you got all of this from a kiss?"

Sora nodded sadly. "I did. I felt something, Riku. It was as if everything clicked into place, and started to make sense. It's hard to explain."

Riku's eyes narrowed, and Sora couldn't help but hear a touch of acid enter is voice. "I'm going to need for you to try."

Sora thought for a second. "Remember that time I convinced you that it was a good idea to drink that soda with full-strength cold medicine, and you said you felt your sinuses pop right before they instantly cleared up?"

Riku grimaced. "I remember that."

"It's like that, only not as painful. It was weird, but I don't think I'm wrong. I need you to believe me on this one."

"I'm supposed to just believe you? You don't think this is kind of sudden? You can't just pop into loving someone, Sora. This isn't my sinuses. This is your heart we're talking about."

"Well, yeah, but you don't think it could just happen? Like a fairy tale? Like, you're prince charming, and I was a frog, and boom, your kiss made me love you. Something like that."

Riku scowled. "Now you're just playing with me. Sora, this doesn't even make any sense. Kissing people isn't that powerful. I would know. I've done it a few times."

Sora sighed heavily. "This is why I told you not to ask me about it. I knew you wouldn't believe me."

Riku began to get a bitter taste in his mouth. It was familiar, but none the less unpleasant. He couldn't tell what was worse, Sora pretending to love him, or Sora going so far as to trick himself into thinking that this love was real. "You can't possibly get all of that from one kiss. Stop embarrassing yourself."

"So you're telling me that when you kiss me, you don't feel something different? Different from any other person you've ever kissed in your life?"

Riku felt color rise to his cheeks. It was a low blow, but it didn't mean that what Sora was feeling was love. It could have been anything. It could have been simply love for a friend. Some people were just better kissers than others. "That may be true, but I already knew how I felt about you before I agreed to this whole kissing lesson in the first place. It makes me a horrible person, I know, but I'm a horrible person who's smart enough to realize that.

"It didn't feel like when I kissed Kairi. It was completely different."

"Of course it felt different!" Riku nearly shouted, standing from the couch. "I'm your friend. She's your _girlfriend._ It's supposed to feel different! What we did was practice, Sora. It was for fun. It was to help you be successful in a relationship that deep down, you know is the right one."

"You don't know what I feel," Sora shouted right back. "I know the difference between kissing someone I love, and kissing someone I also love, but know I should be with. Everything I've felt up until now…it makes so much more sense now."

"It _doesn't_ make any sense!" The words were forced through gritted teeth, and Riku had to put ball his hands into fists to avoid grabbing Sora and shaking him. "All this proves is that I'm a better kisser than Kairi, and while that makes my ego bigger, it does nothing for what you feel for me. The sooner you realize this, the sooner we can be what we're supposed to be: friends…if we can even be that anymore."

"Ugh! You are so unbelievably stubborn!" Sora did not have the restraint that Riku had, and ended up grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and shaking him. "For someone who wants me to love him in the first place, you're acting awfully ungrateful!"

"I don't want you to pretend to feel something for me. It's worse than you being with Kairi. If you really, really, really do love me, more than just a friend, then I'll gladly take it, but I refuse to be with you if this is just some concocted plan of yours to keep us as friends. I can't do it."

"I _realized_ how well that worked the first time, Riku. I'm not stupid enough to try it again. What more proof do you need? If me kissing you doesn't work…if me screaming "I love you, Riku" in your face over and over again doesn't get it through your rock-hard skull, then what this world, or any of the others for that matter, will get you to believe me?"

Riku tore Sora's hands away from his collar and glared at him, eyes lit with cold fire. Sora was panting, his heart racing as though he had just been in a fighting ring, grappling with Xemnas himself. If he didn't get through to Riku, then all of this would have been for naught. Furthermore, he was starting to feel just the tiniest bit mad that his friend had such a penchant for self righteousness. Riku didn't know what he wanted, Sora decided. No matter what, no answer would be good enough. He would just keep pushing against things, things that he _wanted_, just so he could be right.

Sora stared into his smoldering blue eyes, hoping that his own were conveying similar ferocity.

And then…suddenly it clicked.

Sora tilted his head to the side and studied Riku's eyes. The poor guy had one unfortunate window into his otherwise very sturdy fortress of emotional solidarity, and that just happened to be his eyes. If Sora had just bothered to _really_ look there before, he probably could have figured out where all of this resistance was coming from a long time ago.

"You're scared." Sora blurted out, his eyes softening as the realization truly settled in. Riku was scared of what this would mean. He was scared of this relationship, because even if there was a shred of insincerity in Sora's words, he would be sending his already preciously guarded emotions into a veritable pit of fire. Sora faintly wondered what made is friend's walls so thick, and his feelings so fragile, but another part o him was inconceivably mad that Riku could possibly think he meant anything other than sincerity.

…Not counting past evidence of which, of course.

Riku balked at the accusation, and made the weird fish face he often made when he was trying to hide something but was failing. "I'm not scared. I just want you to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into."

"Don't lie to me Riku. It's okay." He dropped his balled fists and softened his gaze even more, hoping to convey some sense of safety. "I know you better than you seem to think I do. It would be a sad representation of our relationship if I couldn't tell something as simple as this."

"Sora…"

"I know how hard it is for you to put your heart out there. Believe me, years of trying to get you to crack anything but a smirk proved that one. Besides, after that whole dating fiasco, I realized how much more careful I have to be when acting on things you care about."

"So you're admitting this is a ridiculous conversation?"

"Not even close." Sora closed his eyes and sighed. "Riku, don't you think I realize how hard it is for you to admit anything other than sarcasm? It's like pulling teeth to get you to be genuinely happy, or embarrassed, or really, even legitimately angry. If it weren't for all of this, I don't think I ever would have seen you cry."

"Hmph. I never cry."

"…Right. Well, supposing you did cry. Anyway, because I know how hard it is for you, I could never say something like this without truly meaning it. If you aren't going to believe me because of the kiss, or the five hundred times I've told you I love you, believe it because I'm your best friend and you know that I would never do anything to hurt you."

Thunder rumbled between them as Sora finished, feeling drained and utterly exhausted of options. If Riku didn't believe him this time, then he wasn't sure that he ever would.

"What if…what if I were to believe you," he said with a stiff lip, fists still balled and trembling at his hips. "If by some cosmic shift, I stopped being rational and really believed you're not just saying all of this nonsense because you pity me, then what would that mean?"

"It would mean a lot of things, most of which I'm not sure about, to be honest."

"So you're willing to just jump into this without having any idea of how it's going to change things?"

"…Well, yeah. You never know how things are going to turn out unless you _do_ them, Riku. I'd much rather jump into loving you than plenty of other things. The cosmos has already decided that we're always supposed to be together. I've just recently figured out _how._"

Riku was nodding slowly, uncertainty flickering about his face and eyes. Sora wanted to cheer and do one of those weird dances Goofy had taught him during their travels, but he kept it in. Riku was slowly starting to believe him, and he didn't want to scare him out of the process, no matter how much Sora himself was getting impatient.

"I can't believe our entire emotional existence was summarized in one kiss. It took me years of brooding to figure this out. It took you less than two minutes."

"Yeah, well, I'm simpler than you. Be more like me and you'll have fewer wrinkles in your old age."

"I have another question."

"Sure, anything." Sora gasped, pleased that the conversation was slowly starting to bend in the direction of his preference. Riku hadn't actually said outright that he believed him, but he was well on his way, and Sora wasn't interested in splitting hairs.

"Why were you so angry earlier? You should have known from the moment you opened your mouth I would protest. For someone who claims to know me so well, you were awfully unprepared."

Sora thought for a moment, then groaned. "Oh that. No, I wasn't mad at you."

"There are other people you're confessing your love to?"

"No, it's not that. I just…"

"You just what?"

Sora shook his head and felt his face heat up. He was only interested in getting Riku to see his perspective, not breech _this_ particular subject. "Hey, hey now. Remember you asked if you could ask me two questions? I think you've definitely gone over that number."

"Eh…I stopped counting a long time ago." He lifted a silver eyebrow and studied Sora's face; his lips were in a firm pout, and his eyebrows were hitched in a frown. "…Why were you so angry?"

"I don't remember. You're imagining it."

Riku stared at him pointedly, and Sora stared right back, challenging Riku to try and find anger that was so obviously not there.

Riku tilted his head to the side and let out a slow stream of air, then shook his head of silver hair. "Sora, this is about as ridiculous as me trying to tell you that I'm a caring, compassionate guy. It's your fault for never being anything but happy all the time. Spit it out."

Sora sighed and shook his head. "I'm not saying that I was angry. Keep that in mind. But if I _were_ to tell you that I was angry, and were to disclose this purely hypothetical anger to you, you have to promise me that you'll just let me sit here and sulk for a while."

"And this is purely hypothetical?"

"Purely."

"Fine. As long as you get whatever your hypothetical problem it is out in the open, I can hypothetically let you mope."

"Good, because you know there's nothing worse than people trying to pry into your life when you don't want them to pry."

"Of course."

"And you have to promise me another thing!"

"Sora, quit with the preliminaries. Just tell me what it is!"

"No! This is the last thing."

"What?"

Sora's lips twitched, and he looked up at Riku seriously, his eyes shimmering in such a way that indicated to Riku that he was meant business. Riku was taken aback from the blue of them for a collection of seconds, until Sora finally spoke.

"You have to promise me that you won't feel guilty, no matter what."

Riku stifled a snort "Guilty? I never feel guilty."

Sora rolled his eyes and leaned forward, pushing his face against Riku's chest, showing no indication of moving. "Stop lying to yourself. You always feel guilty. I can look in your eyes and tell."

He was unable to contain the snort and let it out, hoping that the sound was magnified to Sora's ear against his chest. He pulled an arm around him and was startled at how comfortable it felt; at how right everything was.

"I've been really unfair to you," Sora said quietly, musing as he stared blankly at the material of Riku's shirt. The answer to the question was at the back of his mind, a pressure that reminded him that it needed to be said, but he felt that other things were so much more important. "I can't let you feel guilty for something that's my fault."

"Stop it. You're being sappy."

"I'm not being sappy. I'm being serious. I've forced you to do a lot of things that make you uncomfortable."

"Like this conversation?"

"Not just this."

The thunder rumbled outside, spreading through the silence that suddenly settled between the two of them; Sora staring at Riku's shirt, Riku staring off into some far corner of the dark room. Sora was biting his lips, unsure of what to do next. The fingers curled near his spine stopped stroking his back, an indication that Riku was quietly contemplating.

He couldn't help but worry about what he was thinking.

Sora shifted his head against Riku's chest and curled about him tighter. He knew that he was not good with words, but Riku needed to know that he was sorry for everything, that he was sorry for Riku's pain, for all of the stress, for their awkwardness, for their silence, for the friendship that had been horribly, horribly underappreciated. He was sorry for all the days they had spent apart, and for all the worrying he had caused.

Riku's hand slid an inch down his spine, and an arm muscle flexed just slightly around Sora's chest, and suddenly, Sora knew. It was a simple movement, but it was as bright and reassuring as any kind of verbal affirmation in the darkness of the room. The corners of his lips turned upward just so slightly, a silent mocking of Sora's unnecessary concerns, an honest revelation of his own inner peace. Sora could tell that Riku didn't care _how_ they had gotten through all of the darkness, just as long as they remained basking in the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, just as they were. As happy as he was; however, he could not ignore that he was basking in that glow with Riku alone, while the shadow of a third party hovered about the corners of his vision. That shadow was breaking.

"You're being ridiculous," Riku said finally, his voice soft. "And you still haven't told me why you're mad."

"I'm really not mad, Riku. I'm frustrated."

"With what?"

"Myself, mostly. I'm happy that we've finally figured _us_ out. I'm elated. I'm ecstatic."

"But?"

"But, while I'm so happy, there's someone else I'm hurting."

Riku could already tell who Sora meant, and he stiffened. He would admit that he had grown significantly distant from Kairi as soon as she and Sora had started dating, but after their conversation earlier, he had started caring for her in the same way he had before everything became complicated. He didn't want to hurt her just as much as he knew Sora didn't, but he wasn't sure how he felt about what that would mean.

Sora sighed and curled himself around Riku's torso even tighter, if that were possible. "Riku," he said quietly. "What am I supposed to do?"

Riku knew what he wanted to say. The selfish part of him wanted Sora to forget about her altogether, move on and see only him for the rest of eternity. The selfish part wanted Kairi to know what he had felt since day one of Sora dating her; know what it meant to watch from afar for so long as the heart of their mutual friend beat for someone that wasn't her. The selfish part was strong. The selfish part refused to let go of the person he had fought for, for years and finally, _finally_ had tucked comfortably in his lap.

But the selfish part of him did not hold much weight against the loving part of him; the part that had been embarrassingly small until he met Sora. He would never wish this on anyone, not even the darkest of his foes wriggling about behind the door to Kingdom Hearts. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh, slowly pushing the question he knew he had to ask through his lips.

"Do you want to go back to her?"

Sora was quiet for a few very painful seconds, then shook his head. "I can't. It wouldn't be fair to her. It wouldn't be fair to you."

Riku nodded, remembering just how well dating Sora had worked, a failed attempt to foster a love that only existed in one of them. He could only imagine that it would turn out similarly for Kairi. This had certainly turned out much more complicated than he had anticipated.

"Do you regret this?"

Sora let out a dry bark of a laugh. "I regret the timing. I regret being an idiot, but I don't regret loving you, Riku. That's the truth." He pulled himself from the circle of Riku's limbs and wiped his eyes. "Too much hurt is being caused by my stupid heart," he pounded a hand to his chest for emphasis. "You; however, are not allowed to worry about it. Understood?"

"I have to worry about it. She's my friend, too."

"Yeah, but cleaning up this mess is my responsibility. You can worry passively."

"No problem there. I'm good at being passive."

"You're also good at being obstinate."

Riku snorted and ruffled Sora's hair. "Not as good as you."

Sora pushed his hand off and leaned back against the seat of the couch. He let out a deep sigh as he stared at the ceiling. Riku soon joined him, letting out a twin sigh, folding his arms thoughtfully. They stayed like that for a few minutes, basking in silence; each of them trying to come up with a solution that had the smallest probability of ending badly. Both of them knew though, that no amount of talking, explaining, worrying or even lying would make this any easier for Kairi.

Riku rolled his eyes in Sora's direction, staring at his profile from his peripheral vision. Flashes of different emotions crossed his face as he contemplated various solutions. Frustration was the next to wrinkle Sora's features, and Riku thought he might need to intervene before the concentration threatened to make Sora's brain explode.

"Have you figured anything out yet?"

Sora shook his head, but Riku was silently glad that the tension visibly building up in Sora's head had started to recede.

"There's no easy way to do this."

"I don't think there is," Riku agreed.

"I think I just have to talk to her." Sora winced, scanning his mind for any spell he knew that could possibly enable him to avoid this problem altogether. When he knew that there wasn't he repeated the statement again, this time with more conviction. He knew that he had to be honest with her. He had to be.

Riku nodded quietly. "I think you're right. As much as you usually prefer elaborate schemes, I think she'd appreciate honesty."

"I don't have elaborate schemes, thank you. I'm creative in my methods to avoid hurting feelings. There's a big difference. I'm usually successful, too."

"Need I remind you of—"

"I said _usually_!"

Riku cracked a smile. "You're a good person for that."

"No, I'm a terrible person, and Kairi's going to hate me." Sora let out a small sigh and pulled his knees up to his chin, shaking his head from side to side.

"Do you want me to talk to her?"

At this suggestion, Sora nearly fell off the couch, staring at Riku with such incredulity that Riku almost found himself offended.

"What?"

"What do you mean 'what?' I can't believe you would even offer!"

"Why not?" Riku eyed him. "I'm good at honesty."

"No, you're good at being too direct. I can only imagine how that conversation would go. 'Hey Kairi, Sora and I are together now, so you're pretty much so alone now."

Riku rolled his eyes. "I would not! I'm not that rude!"

"You're right. 'Hey Kairi, Sora and I are together now, so _sorry_ you're pretty much so alone now."

"Much better."

Sora shook his head and fell into the arm of the couch. "Thanks but no thanks. This is a conversation I think I should have with her. It's only fair."

Riku hated to admit it, but Sora was probably right. He knew how he would want it. He would want the words to come from Sora himself, because even if they were words he didn't want to hear, it would feel more like an apology, and less like betrayal. Still though, Riku wanted to be there for Sora, and let Kairi hate him instead. "Do you know what you're going to say?"

"I never do until I start talking."

"Yeah, I've come to realize that."

Sora snorted. "I'm not good at this, you know that."

"…but you're better at so many other things, things that don't need words. I think that you'll figure something out."

"I hope so. I need to think about it for a while."

"Of course. Do you want the kitchen again?"

Sora shook his head and adjusted himself so that he was leaning against Riku's arm. "This will be fine."

"Okay."

The few minutes Sora needed to think turned into a few hours, the dull drumming of rain against the roof apparently having lulled them to sleep. Riku wasn't sure how long he had been out, but when he woke up, he felt stiff, groggy, and warm. It was when he was getting his vision to adjust to the darkness again that he realized why he had woken up. The rhythmic drumming had ceased. Save for Sora's deep breathing next to him, it was silent. The storm had broken. The rain stopped hammering against the roof, and the wind had stilled outside. While he was grateful that the assault on his house had finally come to an end, he was also somewhat disappointed. His time confined to his house with Sora was over, and while he realized that this would be far from the last time he saw him, he couldn't help but be thankful to the storm for righting all of the wrongs between them in the span of just a few hours.

He looked over to Sora, awkwardly leaning against him with one foot propped up on the arm of the couch, the other sliding against the top of the coffee table. He liked Sora like this; peaceful, quiet, and void of the worry that he knew would wash over him as soon as he woke. Once he woke up, he would remember what he had to do, remember a conversation that he knew everyone involved wanted to avoid. He knew that it had to happen. Sora eventually had to wake up, and a heart that was very important to both of them was going to have to be broken.

He nudged Sora with his elbow, then again harder. Sora successfully flipped himself over and let out a loud snore. He wrinkled his nose and shoved Sora in the arm, which only succeeded in moving him a full foot over to the right. He also swatted at Riku in his sleep, clipping Riku's nose in the process.

Fueled with the challenge now more so than any interest in urging Sora into the fast approaching conversation, Riku grabbed Sora's shoulders and shook him in a similar fashion to which he would shake out wet laundry. "Up," he commanded, pleased when the movements forced one droopy blue eye to open.

"What?" Sora slurred, whipping his head around wildly, searching for some danger he had neglected to detect in his sleep. "What's happening?"

"The storm's over," Riku mumbled.

Sora nodded and yawned again, the hand over his mouth only faintly muffling the sound of his voice. "So it is, so it is."

It didn't take much time for the gravity of what that meant settled over him though, and he leaned back, muttering "so it is," once more. Riku let him stay like that for a few moments, knowing that the life for his friend was about to become much more difficult. He could see the regret on his face, sentiments similar to what he had felt, wishing that the storm would last just a little while longer.

"I should probably go soon," Sora said quietly, seriously studying the ceiling. "You probably want your house back."

"I'm in no hurry."

"You say that, but what you really mean is that you want me to scram so you can enjoy your solitude."

"Never."

"Hmph, you're such a liar." Riku could tell Sora wasn't even listening anymore. "For someone who's so good at honesty, you do an awful lot of lying." As Sora's voice faded through the last part of the sentence, Riku felt more sorry for his friend than he ever had before. It was like watching someone trying to mentally prepare for an execution. And in so many ways, that was exactly the case.

"But," Sora said quietly, tilting his head so that he could view Riku fully. "I have to come back at some point soon. You have to be willing to give up your solitude for that."

"Of course I will."

"Because I'm probably going to want to be as far away from my house as I can be. I need protection, you know."

"Right."

"And I might want to sniffle a little bit. I won't cry, because I don't do that, but sometimes I need to clean out my eyes for purely practical reasons, and you have to be here to let me."

"My door is always open for you, Sora."

"Good. Because if it wasn't, I would kill you, and I don't want to go to jail for something as stupid as you wanting to be alone."

The corners of Riku's mouth lifted. "Okay."

"Okay. Good. I'm glad we have an understanding." He sat there for a few more moments, then sighed. Pulling himself from the comfort of the couch hurt. His bones ached, he was stiff and cold. He knew that he had to leave though, because he could not allow himself to be happy without mending a loose end; the most important loose end he had ever come across.

He stood on unwilling legs, and stared down at Riku on the couch, wanting to say something smug and smart and cool before he left, but his mouth was dry, his mind was swirling, and the picture of perfection etched in his light blue eyes left him unable to say anything that he wanted to say. Instead, he took Riku's hand, squeezed it once, then headed towards the door.

He needed to speak to Kairi.

He needed to make things right; however wrong that right was.

He heaved another sigh, and reached for the doorknob, prepared to venture out into the storm-torn island, head first into a different storm that he knew was far worse than the one nature had crafted. His hand banged against wood though, and he winced at the pain blooming across his knuckles.

"Sora," Riku said quietly from the couch. "You have to let me remove the plywood first."

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading, and please remember to submit feedback if you have a moment!<p> 


	13. Apart

Alright everyone, the last chapter is up! I just wanted to say thank you for everyone who stuck with this story, as well offer thanks to those who offered their opinions and reviews. :) Thanks again, and happy reading!

* * *

><p>Sora walked along the wet, soggy sand, his feet leaving deep trails in the ruined beach. As he knew it would, the storm had left a sizeable amount of damage. The trees had been permanently bent, branches and leaves had been stripped from their withered trunks and debris littered the sand like the messy room of a child.<p>

Riku's house had sustained minimal damage, as did many around it. Shingles from the roof were lying about on the sand, but the wooden boards they had put up had saved the windows and doors.

As Sora forged the trail from the house, stepping over planks of wood, seaweed and glass, he felt his heart plunging into whatever fleshy blackness that made up his chest cavity. It was hammering powerfully against his rib cage, reminding him with each pulse of blood that everything was right and wrong at the same time, and that the wrongness would cost him something he valued more than almost anything. He wanted to look back, to lock himself behind Riku's door and stay there, but he forced himself to continue on.

His feet and legs felt heavy—partly from the wet sand he was dragging along with him, and partly because even though he knew the visit was necessary, he really, really, _really_ didn't want to see her. He was afraid of what she would say and afraid of what she would do. What if she cried? What if she slapped him? What if she said she would never speak to him again?

A cold shiver ran up his spine as he considered the prospect of losing someone he loved so dearly, even if it wasn't the way he had loved her before; wasn't the way he loved Riku now.

Even so, he knew that it had to be done so he mustered up the courage to stand on her porch.

He lifted up his fist to knock on the wood, and a dull porch light came on, cutting through the dark gray color of the sky. The light warmed his face, but did little to keep the cold from his bones.

He waited patiently for her to answer, hoping that she didn't hear him, and that he could just go back home and forget the whole thing, but the quiet sound of footsteps behind the door dismissed his silent wish.

The mechanisms in the doorknob shifted, and Sora felt anxious and began tapping his feet. When her head finally appeared between the crack in the door and the wall, Sora thought his heart was going to beat itself out of his chest.

She looked at him curiously, a reddish eyebrow lifted. "Sora?"

"Eh, Hi." It was all he could force himself to say.

"Hi?" She smiled and opened the door wider for him to enter, which he did with trepidation. She seemed to pick up on his bizarre body language and adopted an uncomfortable expression. "What brings you over?"

Sora entered her house and quickly took note of the smell of sugar, spices, and fruit permeating the air. The sugary scent of baked goods swirled pleasantly around his nose. He knew that storms made her just as jumpy as they made Riku and him, and she had found peace in cooking.

He sighed.

She looked at him expectantly.

"I think…I think I have to talk to you, Kairi."

The smile on her face wavered for a second; it was a cross between confusion, and a nascent sense that something she feared had arrived. But in a flash, the smile was back, and melted into an expression of unassuming curiosity. "You do?"

Sora swallowed. "Uh, yeah."

Kairi stared at him for a few seconds then nodded, taking in the serious expression on his face. "Ah, okay. Is something wrong?"

"Kind of."

Kairi nodded again, and that same expression crossed her face, the one that made Sora's nerves pinch, and his skin prickle. "Should we sit?"

It was Sora's turn to nod now, and he did so with a heavy head. He seated himself as far away from her as possible on the couch and took her in. She sat down daintily, taking care to arrange her skirt about her legs. He really sat and looked at her; her face, her arms, her smile, her eyes. He looked at the way her hair curved around her neck, the way her shoulders slanted perfectly, like a pixy, or a fairy, or a sprite; the way her lips met in an even, heart shape and produced a musical, symphonic voice. He looked at her hands—capable of crafting the most intricate of charms and decorations, many of which he still kept to this very day; her knees and legs, ankles and feet.

When he lifted his gaze back up to her eyes though, he felt an throbbing heaviness erupt all over his being, because even though he was sure he was making the right decision; even though he knew that in the long run it would be better for all of them, this would be the last time he would be able to see her face this way.

It would be the last time he would see her _not_ hating him.

With this though in mind, his mouth went dry and he had to clasp his hands together to keep them from shaking.

"How are you, Kairi?"

She seemed unsure of how to answer his question and tilted her head to the side. Deciding not to rush him into whatever it was he wanted to say, she smiled nervously. "I've been okay. That was one crazy storm earlier, wasn't it? In fact, I'm surprised that you're here so soon after…"

"I know. It is really sudden. I thought it might be best if I didn't wait."

She nodded again, and watched him. "Wait for what?"

"I need to talk to you about something. About us."

Kairi looked alarmed for a flash of a moment, then cleared her throat. "About us?"

"I think we…" Sora sighed, the words sticking in his throat.

"Just tell me what it is." The waver in her voice betrayed her; she knew what it was he was going to say. He knew she did. He could tell.

"I don't think we should be together anymore."

Her eyes widened anyway. Perhaps it was hearing it said out loud. It became real. "What?"

Sora chewed his lip. "Kairi, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to—"

"_What?"_

"Kairi…"

"It's really…but…"

"Kairi, I—"

"Why are you saying this? Have I done something wrong?"

"No!" He nearly shouted, a surge of pain rising up through his body. "Not you. It isn't you. You have to believe that."

She scoffed at this. "How am I supposed to? You decide _today_ that you're going to leave, and I'm supposed to believe that I haven't done something? Did I say something? Is there something I'm not doing?"

He shook his head and made a motion to grab her hands, but thought better of it. "It has nothing to do with you, Kairi. You've been wonderful to me. Better than I have been to you."

"So you're breaking up with me because you think you're not being an adequate boyfriend? The last I heard, I haven't had any complaints." She sent him a look that could kill, and Sora thought she had nearly succeeded in doing so. He had never before seen such venom, seen so much hurt.

"You don't understand. You have been great to me. There's nothing that you've done wrong. It really is me this time." He put a hand to his chest and did his best to look at her. "I can't do this to you, Kairi. I love you too much."

"Sora, you're not making any sense." She looked away and clutched her knees with her hands. "Just tell me what's wrong."

Sora bit his lips again. "I can't just let us be as we were. My feelings have changed, and I've learned that it hurts more to pretend than to be honest." He went against his previous judgment from earlier and did take her hands in his. "I care about you, Kairi." He felt his eyes tearing up, and when one threatened to spill over, he paused to wipe it away. "Kairi," he said quietly. "I can't be with you anymore."

She took her hands out of his and clenched her fists. Sora felt as if she was squeezing his heart, and knew that she had every right too. "Can I ask why?"

Sora stared at his own hands silently, feeling her heated gaze on him.

She rubbed her temples. "Is there…is there someone else?"

Sora remained silent, wincing at the implication. He knew that he had been wrong, he knew that he shouldn't have done this to her, but when he heard it uttered out loud, he was visibly bothered.

She shook her head and put a hand up. "I mean I," She looked at him, then back at her lap, then back at him. "You…and…?"

Sora looked away from her, and he could tell she already knew. He briefly worried that she might be mad at Riku too, for something that was really not his fault. If he managed to wreck her relationship with Riku too, he wasn't sure what he would do.

"You and Riku? You and _Riku?"_

Sora knew he wouldn't be able to look her in the eye. It was the ultimate betrayal—picking one friend over another. If she decided to launch herself across the room and attack him, he wouldn't blame her. He couldn't apologize, he couldn't ask for forgiveness. Nothing seemed like it would be enough. All he could do was nod stupidly as she scoffed.

"You and Riku. You and Riku! I can't believe you would…" She sent him another hateful look, a mixture of despair, anger, frustration and pain. Sora couldn't handle it. He had to close his eyes. He couldn't take her looking at him that way.

"So we…we're…."

"Kairi, please… I don't want, I don't…"

"How long," she demanded suddenly, her eyes a picture of ferocity, stern, demanding, sad.

"It's not like you think, Kairi. I would never—"

"Nevermind," she said breathlessly, standing from her seated position on the couch, her slippers scuffling against the floor. She looked about angrily for a moment, then her gaze landed on a large travel bag. "I don't want to know. I don't want to know anything. I don't want to know anything!"

She stormed over to the bag and placed it on her table, collecting a few more along the way—one from a nearby table, and one from the kitchen. She placed all of them on the coffee table and the couch before she paused to stare through him.

Kairi's cheeks were reddening, and it made Sora's heart melt. He saw what he thought were tears welling up in her eyes, and he knew that if a single one fell, his melting heart would suddenly shatter into a million, sharp, jagged pieces.

She closed her eyes for a long moment, though, successfully keeping the tears back for an undetermined amount of time, then opened them; bright blue dashed with betrayal. Sora thought she looked awful that way, and knew that all that marred beauty was his fault.

"I really should get packing for my trip. It would be awful if I kept my grandmother waiting, you know?"

"…I…I know."

"She's been sick lately. I don't remember if I told you about it."

"…I…"

She rubbed her eyes roughly with the back of her wrist and took a few steps away from him. "I know I have obligations here to attend to. You know how much I like the islands, being here with friends, but it's important that I go to her."

"Of course it is."

"Because she needs me. She needs me a lot, and it's only right. It's only right that I be with her. Do you understand?"

Sora felt pressure behind his own eyes as he watched her, listened to her. He took all of it in, her cracking voice, her trembling fists, her red-rimmed eyes threatening to spill over with tears. "I understand, Kairi. I just…I just…"

Kairi was throwing things into a bag on her sofa, Tupperware dishes, napkins, eating utensils. "I knew I would have to leave eventually. She sometimes has these episodes, you know? I have to go." She paused to try to fit a dish in the bag that would not sit level. She worked with it, her hands rough on the plastic. Sora envisioned her strangling him.

She pushed against the dish, but it refused to budge. Her arms were shaking, knuckles white. Frustrated, she gave up and released a sigh that could end the world. Sora felt his legs walk his body over before he realized he was even doing it, and arranged the dish into the bag for her, his hands brushing against hers. He could feel all of her pain, all of her anger.

She pulled her hands free and ran them through her hair, pointedly staring at Sora, who could only look back at her pitiably. She held his gaze for a few long moments, then closed her eyes, another sigh filling the room.

"I'm going," she said at long last. "I'm going, but I _will_ be back. I want you to know that."

Sora felt his heart beating again, but this time it had stopped reminding him that it was sinking.

"You…what?"

"I'm going, but I'll be back," Kairi repeated, walking to the other side of the room to collect another bag. "I need time to take care of my grandmother, but she will get well soon. When she does, I'll be back. Then, I don't know what will happen, but I will _be_ here."

Sora nodded his head slowly, watching her path across the room and wondering how he could have possibly met someone like her.

"You should go. I have a lot of packing to do," she said quietly, her back to him. "And don't offer to carry my bags for me. I can do it myself."

Sora nodded. "I won't."

"Good."

"Okay then," he said unsure. He started stepping back, towards the door. "I will wait for you to get back."

"Okay."

With that, he slipped out of the door, purposely walking quickly off of her porch, to escape the sound of sobs he could hear from behind the door. He knew she would cry. He knew this would hurt her.

But there was a glimmer somewhere, a glimmer of something hopeful. He wasn't sure they were going to be okay yet, in fact, he was sure they were far from that point. But he couldn't help but hope that somehow, that in some way they would be…

Sora felt moisture on his cheeks and rubbed his face roughly. When he looked back up, he realized where he was facing, and remembered a certain promise made to him by a friend.

As more moisture dotted his cheeks, he ran. He ran down the beach, kicking up sand, following footsteps he had already made along a path that had been made permanent.

XxX

Riku winced as he stepped on the side of one of the nails he had dropped from earlier. He was thankful that the pointed side was not up when his foot unfortunately landed on it, but he became more aware that he should probably go about cleaning up. Hunting around for more of the renegade nails on the floor, he was both pleased and disturbed when he found more. Walking to the kitchen could have easily ended very badly.

Five nails later, he was depositing them into the drawer, and was startled when he heard a familiar sound at his front door. It was a wicked knocking, similar to what the wind had done to his roof earlier, but this time it was panicked, uneasy. Riku had known that Sora was going to speak to Kairi, but he was surprised that he had done so this quickly. He had half expected for him to wander around the beach for a few hours, return, complain about not being able to do it, then try again every day for another week or so. He supposed that it spoke to Sora's character, how much he truly cared about her; about him.

It was because of this that he wasted no time in closing the distance between himself and the door, wrenching it open to find Sora barely able to control his tears, his face a picture of despair. Wordlessly, Riku opened his arms, and Sora crashed into him, smearing tears all over his shirt, crying as though he had just lost his best friend.

A very real possibility.

Riku silently held him, rubbed his back the best way he knew how. He wasn't the best at being able to console people, and was in fact quite used to being the one people needed consoling _about._ A crying Sora clinging to his arms was not at all a common occurrence, especially since their exploits through the darkness had changed him so; it had changed both of them. These days it seemed though, that all of the emotions denied of them were starting to come out, feelings they had repressed to stay strong against the forces of darkness. Both of them had emoted more recently than they had during that time.

Riku managed to maneuver Sora inside just enough to get the door closed, but other than that, he remained silent. He wanted to be a sturdy pillar for Sora to cry on. He himself hadn't given much thought about how Kairi might react, partly because he wasn't as close to her as Sora, and partly because he was still trying to understand how all of _this_ had happened. Now that he was seeing the aftermath; however, he could only imagine how hard this conversation must have been. As someone who had once been on the other side of that conversation too, he really felt badly for her.

As Sora cried, Riku held him, moving over to the couch as Sora snorted and sniffed his way through a crying spell that seemed to drain him. Riku hoped that his silence wasn't coming off the wrong way. Aside from not truly knowing what to do, he understood that Sora just need to have this moment to mourn a relationship that had meant a great deal to him.

It was a good while later when evidence of its end began to emerge. Sora had quieted a bit, his face red and wet, his voice a shuddering hiccup. Riku dared not say the first word, lest he find need to continue, so he waited until Sora completely gathered himself together.

Sora let out a sigh, and coughed once before he looked up at Riku. He blinked back the remainder of his tears, and wiped his face with his hand. Riku didn't have much to offer him except for a towel he had apparently left draped over the back of his couch some time ago, so he handed it to Sora and waited for him to satisfactorily clean his face.

Sora handed it back wordlessly, and just stared at his lap.

"…Are you okay?" Riku offered quietly, muttering it so softly he wasn't even sure if Sora heard him.

Sora apparently had, and nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"Are you sure? If you need time to think or something, the kitchen is back there." He motioned with his head to the door, then added quickly "I also took the plywood off the door, so if you need to go home or…"

Sora shook his head and sighed. "I'm really okay. Thank you. That was just…"

"Hard?"

"Harder than hard. Getting Tidus to make sense is hard. Convincing you that you're wrong is hard. This was…this was…"

"Painful?"

Sora nodded. "It was painful, But…" he chewed his lip and looked up at Riku. "It was something that I had to do."

"You're sure?"

Sora snorted at this and chose to flop completely into Riku's lap. "Now would _not_ be the time to ask me that. After I went up to bat for you, you'd better believe I'm serious at this point."

"I believe you, I just…" He sighed, unable to resist pinching a lock of Sora's hair and pulling it. "I just don't want to make things harder for you. I told you that I'd be willing to settle being your best friend."

"Stop doing that."

"Stop doing what?"

"_That_," Sora said pointedly. "Stop saying things that make me want to punch you."

"Hmph, it's not my fault you have a violent streak."

"No, but it is your fault for worrying about me so much." He moved, and realized too late that Riku still had a lock of his hair pinched between his fingers. Wincing, he continued. "If I'm willing to break up with the best girlfriend I've ever had for a jerk like you, I'd say you're just refusing to see the obvious if you don't believe me now."

"That's not it…"

"Yes it is," Sora said dismissively.

"No it's not. I just want to make sure you're not going to regret this later. She was important to you. I'm not—" Riku couldn't help himself. He was beginning to feel guilty again, and needed a small shred of reassurance that he was doing the right thing; that being so selfish could _possibly_ be the right thing. Sora; however, was more than sure, and refused to let him grieve the loss of his supposed righteousness.

"If you're going to say 'worth it,' I really _am_ going to hit you and probably break your nose. Now shut up and let me mourn the loss of Kairi, and embrace the new jerk I'm replacing her with." He smiled. "Got me?"

Sora kind of wondered if he should regret being so snappy, but he was still upset, and Riku wasn't doing much to make it better. The small smile that cracked on Riku's face; however, gave him all of the reassurance that he would possibly need. "Good. I was just letting you know that this was your last opportunity to back out. I'm not going to let you go so easily, okay?"

Sora grinned, relief washing over him like a tidal wave. "It's perfectly Okay."

"Okay then."

Sora rearranged himself from his seated position and spread his arms, ready to give Riku a flying-tackle-hug he had been saving to both finalize things, and be slightly annoying, but he hesitated mid leap, narrowing his eyes. "Wait, does this mean we're official?"

Riku rolled his eyes and pulled his hand around Sora's head and curled it into his shoulder. Grinning as he struggled beneath his strength, he rubbed a hand roughly through Sora's hair. "Yes. We're married."

"That's not what I meant…and let go!"

Riku rubbed his head again finally let him up for air, pleased at the disgruntled look that was marring Sora's features. "I know. But I don't think we need to give _us _a title. We just…_are. _If you start acting all weird just because of it, I'll never forgive you."

"Same to you." Sora scoffed. He agreed, but refused to show it. With a huff, he sat back down on the couch next to Riku, smiling to himself, and taking in a large gulp of air before releasing it. He was content sitting there in the dark, next to a friend who meant so much more than a friend. Riku was quiet too, his arm loosely hanging over the back of the couch, the silence comfortable between them.

Suddenly, a growl rippled throughout the room, not so unlike the storm that had previously been attacking the island. Sora immediately began searching around. "Hmph, pretty sure I left my bag of chips here." Spying the rumpled bag on the table, he reached for them.

Riku lifted a silver eyebrow. "Is this all you've eaten all day?"

"It's not by choice. I was kind of in a hurry this morning."

"That explains why you didn't think to come over during more sane atmospheric conditions. Your brain is starved."

Sora's eyebrows waggled, and he elbowed him in the side, grinning. "Are you offering to cook me eggs and toast, _dearest_?"

"I'm starting to hate you."

End

* * *

><p>That wraps it up! Please remember to submit feedback if you have a moment.<p> 


End file.
